Now eBay India could soon merge with Flipkart

According to a new report, among the flurry of investors that Flipkart is currently talking to, eBay and Tencent Holdings are two of them. It is said that eBay is looking to invest about $500 million in Flipkart, and subsequently merge its online store with Flipkart. The report hasn’t been confirmed yet, so we’re taking it with a grain of salt for now. 

A third investor in the form of Microsoft, PayPal, or Google Capital could be joining the funding round for Flipkart, as per the report. The merging of eBay India with Flipkart will no doubt bolster their standing in the Indian e-commerce segment. This will help them take on the likes of Amazon India which is currently one of the most popular e-commerce sites in the country. 

Also, this could be Flipkart and eBay India’s way to combat the imminent arrival of Alibaba in India. With an investment of $500 million, eBay India will have a majority stake in Flipkart, thus allowing them to merge services. It will be interesting to see if these plans will actually go through or if Flipkart will have to rely on other major investors in this round of funding. 

Interestingly, eBay invested about $134 million in Snapdeal a few years ago. But following investments by other major players, eBay’s investment now stands at just 6%. So this proposed Flipkart investment could have more significance than any other investment made by eBay in the past. With Amazon going about its business very smoothly in the country, it should be seen if this proposed merger between Flipkart and eBay India will have any impact on its functioning.

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