E-commerce giant Snapdeal has acquired Freecharge, an online mobile recharge platform, for an estimated $400 million (Rs 2,400 crore), making it biggest ever deal in Indian e-commerce history.
This also makes Snapdeal.com the largest mobile commerce company in the country.
The companies took to Twitter to announce this deal – Snapdeal proposed and Freecharge accepted it, all in tweets.
This deal ($400 million – Rs.2,400 crore) is the biggest acquisition in India’s E-commerce space. Last year, Flipkart acquired Myntra for over $330 million (about Rs 2000 crore).
While Flipkart has 30 million registered users, the Snapdeal-Freecharge collaboration to hit 40 million customer mark.
Started in 2010, Freecharge offers free coupons on every recharge, making it more popular among younger generation than its competitor Paytm.
Freecharge will operate as an independent entity under Snapdeal and its founder Kunal Shah will be the CEO. Its current CEO Alok Goyal will take up a new responsibility in Snapdeal.
This deal helps Snapdeal to Freecharge’s younger audience of 18-25 years range.
The deal will see cross-platform selling of products and services on Snapdeal and Freecharge.
This is the 10th acquisition for Snapdeal and the 5th one since January 2015.
