Snapdeal Founders Hire Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas For Flipkart Deal

Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal have roped in Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to advise them on a deal with Flipkart, Cyril Shroff, managing partner of the law firm, told BloombergQuint over the phone.

Besides negotiating the deal, the law firm will also help ensure smooth transitioning of employee stock ownership plans, a person privy to the information told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

Snapdeal and Flipkart did not immediately comment on BloombergQuint's emailed query.

The development was first reported by news website VCCircle.

Earlier this month, the founders had in a letter to employees hinted at a potential deal, while assuring that increments this time will be higher than last year's. “While our investors are driving the discussions around the way forward, I am reaching out to let you know that the well-being of the entire team is mine and Rohit's top and only priority,” Bahl wrote to employees.

Snapdeal, which was last valued at $6.5 billion when it raised $200 million in February 2016, has struggled to keep up with its larger rivals Flipkart Online Services Pvt. and Amazon Inc. Its losses have more than doubled to over Rs 3,000 crore in the financial year ended March 2016, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

In February, Snapdeal had laid off 500-600 employees across the e-commerce marketplace and its subsidiaries mobile wallet Freecharge and logistics wing Vulcan Express. The company has also shut down some of its divisions, including its Indian designer and handicraft platform Shopo.in in January.

Also Read: What A Flipkart-Snapdeal Marriage Will Mean As SoftBank Plays Matchmaker