Flipkart Acquires Myntra To Take On Amazon

In India's biggest ever e-commerce deal, the country's largest online retailer, Flipkart, has acquired the biggest fashion retailer online - Myntra - in a deal estimated at around Rs 2,000 crore.

Homegrown Flipkart is the clear leader in India, but international giant, Amazon, is snapping at its heels in the domestic market - and so Flipkart decided to accelerate by acquiring India's biggest fashion retailer, Myntra. Myntra currently has around 30 per cent of the online fashion market.

The two online retailers will continue to work as independent entities as Myntra CEO and cofounder Mukesh Bansal will join the Flipkart board.

Flipkart's co-founder Sachin Bansal told NDTV, "I think this acquisition puts us far ahead of the competition in this space. Put together, we kind of reach 50 per cent market share. Not just that, it gives us an opportunity to grow further from here, to grow faster together."

Mukesh Bansal explained what was in the deal for Myntra. "Flipkart is the largest e-commerce company in India. They have very strong technology platforms, supply chain expertise, largest share of Indian e-commerce shoppers. So we can leverage all of that while strengthening our fashion expertise," he said.

The online entrepreneurs did not divulge the exact size of the deal. Flipkart's Sachin Bansal said, "We are not in a position to disclose details and structure of the deal, but I can assure you it is a number we are both very happy about!"

Myntra's Mukesh Bansal told NDTV, "We are quite thrilled with the valuation. It factors in what we have achieved till date as well as the potential for Myntra to grow in future, so our shareholders are quite excited with the valuation."

Flipkart and Myntra say it will be business as usual for both customers and employees.

The Flipkart head said, "Our commitment to bringing lower prices to the customers - that continues. That is the core value proposition of e-commerce itself. Because of the model being more efficient, we should be able to pass on better discounts to our customers. That is our value proposition. We can't go against our basic DNA as an e-commerce company which is about lower prices."

E-commerce companies have been growing at a rate of 40 to 45 per cent each year. The competition is clearly fierce for the millions of Indians who prefer to shop online in a market that is estimated at 3 billion dollars, or nearly Rs 20,000 crore. And Flipkart has made sure it continues to have the biggest slice of the pie.