Alibaba in talks with Snapdeal for investment deal

As it seems, Alibaba is determined to take over the world and become the emperor of e-commerce. Their latest effort toward becoming a global super conglomerate includes a current funding talk with Indian online marketplace Snapdeal for an infusion of cash. Alibaba is looking at a potential cash investment in what would be their first direct cash investment in India.

Snapdeal currently competes with two larger e-commerce giants in India, namely Flipkart.com and Amazon.com. While Amazon is also working on their path to global e-commerce dominance, Snapdeal is currently trying to give them a run for their money. In October of 2014, Snapdeal secured a 627 million dollar investment from Japan’s Softbank, who was actually an earlier backer of Alibaba.

Alibaba has made no definite statements on their status or business with Snapdeal, so many of the loose ends of the deal are still very much a mystery. Alibaba’s PR department has yet to respond to any inquires regarding their potential investment into Snapdeal. The talks might not be public, but when you are one of the most powerful e-commerce giants in China it’s hard to maintain any real sense of privacy.

Investor interest is clearly very high, and would be super beneficial to both parties as well. With Snapdeal getting the infusion of cash they need to be able to tackle Flipkart and Amazon and Alibaba getting a foot in the door in India. It’s easy to argue that this deal would be simply common sense.

It is common knowledge that Alibaba has had their eye on the Indian market for quite some time. Just last month, Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial bought a 25 percent stake in the Indian payment services provider behind Paytm. While Alibaba and Snapdeal might just be in talks it is obvious what the best course of action is if both companies won’t a bigger piece of the e-commerce pie.