Snapdeal flips merger talks with Flipkart; to fly solo

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Snapdeal yesterday called off the $950 million-takeover (over Rs 6,000 crore) by Flipkart, apparently over differences in valuation and terms of what could possibly have been the largest deal in the Indian e-commerce space.

Discussions to acquire the beleaguered Snapdeal by Flipkart were initiated in March but contours of the deal could not reach a finality even after several rounds.

"Snapdeal has been exploring strategic options over the past several months. The company has now decided to pursue an independent path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result," a Snapdeal spokesperson said in a statement, without naming Flipkart.

The spokesperson added that the company will now pursue "Snapdeal 2.0" which is expected to help Snapdeal be "financially self-sustainable".

Major layoffs
Snapdeal on Monday also revealed that it is facilitating a major layoff in the company, with an agenda to cut down 80 percent of its employee strength.

With the money from the sale of Freecharge received ($50 million), the firm has decided to sack around 1,000 employees out of their present workforce of 1,200, and carry forward with the remaining.

In July last year, the company had over 9,000 employees. However, the management cut down the talent pool down to 1,200, without any notice.

While the remaining employees are backing the Flipkart-Snapdeal merger, in an attempt to save their jobs, the frontrunners on the verge of losing power have decided to dissolve the same.