After this financing round, Flipkart will have in excess of $4 billion of cash on its balance sheet.
E-commerce major
Flipkart on Thursday announced an investment from
SoftBank Vision Fund, the world's largest technology-focused investment fund. This is the biggest ever private investment in an Indian technology company, and will make the Vision Fund one of the largest shareholders in Flipkart, the e-commerce company said.
People familiar with the deal said the investment is worth $2.5 billion, with about $1.5 billion being directly funnelled into Flipkart and $1billion for part of Tiger Global Management's stake. The SoftBank Vision Fund, the world's largest technology-focused fund, will get about 20 per cent stake in Flipkart, they said.
The investment is part of the previously announced financing round, where Flipkart had raised capital from three of the world's premier technology companies - Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. After this financing round, Flipkart will have in excess of $4 billion of cash on its balance sheet.
The deal comes 10 days after SofBank's attempts to forge a deal between Flipkart and its smaller rival
Snapdeal fell apart following months of negotiations.
"This is a monumental deal for Flipkart and India. Very few economies globally attract such overwhelming interest from top-tier investors. We're excited to welcome the Vision Fund as a long-term partner as we continue to build our business with a focus on serving the needs of all Indians, and driving the next phase of technology adoption in India," said Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, co-founders of Flipkart.
The Flipkart Group is India's largest e-commerce marketplace and includes group companies Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, PhonePe and eBay.in. Launched in October 2007, Flipkart offers over 80 million products across 80 categories.
Commenting on the Flipkart investment, Masayoshi Son, founder and chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group, said: "India is a land of vast opportunity. We want to support innovative companies that are clear winners in India because they are best positioned to leverage technology and help people lead better lives. As the pioneers in Indian e-commerce, Flipkart is doing that every day."