Japan’s SoftBank takes driving seat in Indian online shake-up
After ploughing about $2 billion into minority stakes in Indian e-commerce businesses over the past few years, Japan’s SoftBank is upping the stakes, looking to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading start-ups. According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the solar-to-tech conglomerate is seeking to secure a piece of India’s industry leaders in everything from payment systems to online shopping and groceries, in a series of deals that would shake up the $65 billion sector. Among the most high-profile plans is SoftBank’s push to engineer a merger between Snapdeal, the No. 3 player in one of the world’s most competitive online markets and one of its biggest Indian investments to date, and market leader Flipkart.
Source:: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/japans-softbank-takes-driving-seat-013040198.html
