SoftBank in talks to invest up to $2 billion in Flipkart via its Vision fund

By Sankalp Phartiyal and Nivedita Bhattacharjee

MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank is still keen to take a stake in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart and is in talks to invest up to $2 billion in the company through its Vision Fund, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Softbank had hoped to secure a sizeable stake in Flipkart by engineering a share swap between Flipkart and smaller domestic rival Snapdeal, as the Japanese group is Snapdeal's biggest shareholder. But that plan collapsed on Monday when Snapdeal said it had decided to remain independent and was ending all talks regarding a sale.

 

Three sources said SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son still wants to invest in Flipkart through his Vision Fund, in which Saudi Arabia is also a major stakeholder.

The first source said talks about an investment of up to $2 billion were underway and a deal between SoftBank and Flipkart could be sealed within a month.

The Vision Fund's planned investment is not dependent on a deal between Snapdeal and Flipkart, one of the sources said.

All sources declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.

Flipkart, the most significant challenger to U.S. retail giant Amazon in India, declined to comment on the matter.

SoftBank, which has also invested in Indian online grocer Grofers and cab hailing firm Ola, said its Vision Fund "follows an independent process and judges every investment on its own merit."

Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday that the Fund could invest between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in Flipkart.

The Vision Fund has raised more than $93 billion from investors including Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund and Apple.

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Euan Rocha and Susan Fenton)