Snapdeal to buy Freecharge in Rs 2,800-cr deal

E-commerce firm Snapdeal is learnt to be close to acquiring online mobile recharge platform Freecharge in a Rs 2,800-crore (Rs 28 billion) deal. 

According to sources, Snapdeal has finalised the deal with Freecharge and an announcement is likely to happen soon. 

This would be one of the biggest deals by any e-commerce company buying out consumer internet firm. Snapdeal, the prime rival of Flipkart, is also in talks with investors such as China's Alibaba and Taiwan's Foxconn to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $6-7 billion. 

When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. Freecharge had recently raised Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to expand its current consumer base of 20 million. 

Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal, has already acquired five companies so far with the latest one being luxury fashion portal exclusively.com. 

According to sources, a couple of more acquisitions might happen this year. 

Snapdeal raised about $1 billion last year while Flipkart raised nearly $2 billion. One of the major investments in Snapdeal came from Japan's Softbank Corporation, which infused $627 million into the New Delhi-based company.