SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese corporation, is seeking for spending almost USD 2 Billion in Flipkart, the home-based e-commerce major, as per sources in the industry. SoftBank, via SoftBank Vision Fund, is in talks with Flipkart to spend almost USD 1.5 Billion to USD 2 Billion. This information was given by two sources having deep knowledge of this matter. They wish to be unnamed as the talks are still in progress.
This assumes importance since SoftBank-supported Snapdeal last week called off merger discussions with Flipkart. It was also stated that SoftBank was seeking at picking up shares in Flipkart. With the discussions between Flipkart and Snapdeal falling apart, Softbank can now still go further and spend in Flipkart, the sources further added.
SoftBank, which has sponsorship in Indian start-ups such as Snapdeal and Ola, had pledged investments valued almost USD 10 Billion in 2014 in India. In May 2017, SoftBank invested USD 1.4 Billion (almost Rs 9,079 Crore) in Paytm, the Indian digital transaction platform. When made a contact, a SoftBank representative claimed to the media that, “SoftBank Vision Fund separately calculates each investment on its own value.” Flipkart did not reply to e-mailed questions. Established by Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank Chairman, SoftBank Vision Fund works as an independent entity. It also has candidates such as Foxconn, Apple, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Softbank also claimed that it had recognized a hammering of almost $1.4 Billion linking to investments conducted by the Tokyo-headquartered investor in the not-in-a-good-condition ecommerce giant Snapdeal and ride-hailing platform, Ola. Led by popular telecommunications giant Masayoshi Son, Softbank last week said it had witnessed a failure from fiscal instruments at “Fair Value through Profit or Loss” of ¥160,419 Million in its combined fiscal statements for the financial year 2016–2017.
It signed off ¥114,059 Million as a particular loss in its non-combined fiscal statements for the financial year 2016–17 that symbolized loss of its funds in associates and subsidiaries, counting that of Starfish I Pvt. Ltd. Starfish I is a midway holding firm, which possesses favored shares in ANI Technologies—which handles Ola—and Jasper Infotech, which operates and possesses Snapdeal.
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