Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has received anti-trust regulator CCI’s approval for buying 4.14% stake in Snapdeal.
A leading online marketplace, Snapdeal has been raising funds from various investors in recent times.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the “acquisition of approximately 4.14% equity share capital of Jasper Infotech by Alibaba group”, the regulator said in a tweet. Jasper Infotech owns Snapdeal.
Approval is required from CCI, which keeps a tab on unfair business practices, for acquisitions beyond a certain threshold.
It was announced in August that Alibaba Group and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology, among others, would invest $500 million (about Rs 3,269 crore) in Snapdeal.
At that time, Jasper did not specify the individual investments being made while FIH Mobile Ltd — a unit of Foxconn — had said that it was picking up 4.27% stake in the company for $200 million.
Existing investors Temasek Holdings Pte, BlackRock Inc, Myriad and Premji Invest had also participated in the fund raising.
Snapdeal, which began as a coupon platform similar to Groupon Inc when it was founded in February 2010, is one of India’s three biggest e-tailers.