Infibeam To Acquire Snapdeal’s Unicommerce In Rs 120-Crore Deal

Ahmedabad-based Infibeam Ltd. today said it will acquire Snapdeal's subsidiary Unicommerce, which offers e-commerce enablement software, in a deal worth up to Rs 120 crore.

“Under the agreement, Infibeam will issue optionally convertible debentures on preferential basis to Jasper Infotech valued up to Rs 120 crore, subject to shareholders' approval,” Infibeam said in a statement on the exchanges.

The e-commerce firm added that its board had approved acquisition of the entire share capital of Unicommerce from existing shareholders—Jasper Infotech (which operates Snapdeal) for a consideration “other than cash.”

He added that the deal will be pivotal for the company's fast growing GeM (Government e-Marketplace) business.

“We are deeply committed to the growth of Unicommerce and fully support the current management team and the plan to invest further in the business,” he said.

Jason Kothari, chief strategy and investment officer at Snapdeal, said that the sale of Unicommerce is a ‘continuation of the Snapdeal 2.0 plan to divest and focus on our core consumer e-commerce business.'

The transaction is expected to close in three to five months.

Last year, Snapdeal dumped a $950-million takeover offer from Flipkart, with Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal saying that the company will pursue a fresh strategy in the Indian market.

As a part of this Snapdeal 2.0 plan, it has sold its payment services unit Freecharge to Axis Bank for Rs 385 crore, while its logistics arm—Vulcan Express—was acquired by Kishore Biyani's Future Supply Chain Solutions in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 35 crore.

According to Infibeam's filing, Unicommerce eSolutions had a net worth of Rs 24.63 crore and turnover of Rs 20.27 crore as on March 31.

Founded in 2012, Unicommerce offers e-commerce enablement software for warehouse management and omni-channel services and has over 10,000 sellers, brands and online retailers as its clients.

“The line of business of the target company (Unicommerce) is similar to Infibeam... The acquisition would result in growth in merchants and revenues from Infibeam Web Services,” the filing said.

Besides, the board has approved change in the name of the company from Infibeam Incorporation Ltd to Infibeam Avenues Ltd, subject to shareholders' and other statutory approvals.