eBay Inc got 5.44% stake in Flipkart in exchange for the eBay India biz

E-commerce major eBay Inc got a 5.44% stake in India e-commerce marketplace Flipkart, in exchange for selling its eBay India business and the cash investment it had made in the former earlier this year, according to eBay’s quarterly report for the quarter ended September 30, 2017. The company also mentioned that it had gained $167 million through the sale of its eBay India business to Flipkart.

During the third quarter of 2017, we received a 5.44% ownership interest in Flipkart in exchange for our eBay India business and a $514 million cash investment, resulting in a cost method investment of $725 million. The gain on disposal of our eBay India business of $167 million was recorded in interest and other, net on our consolidated statement of income.

In April this year, Flipkart had raised $1.4 billion from eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. eBay’s contribution to this round was $514 million. It was during this round of funding that eBay sold its India business to Flipkart in exchange for equity in the Flipkart Group. Now we know what eBay’s equity stake in the Flipkart Group is.

In June, Flipkart received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the acquisition of eBay’s India business. The notice published on the CCI website explained that the proposed transaction relates to the acquisition of certain compulsorily convertible preference shares of Flipkart, by eBay Singapore, and the acquisition of 100% share capital of eBay India, by Flipkart. Following this, in August, Flipkart appointed Anil Goteti as the head of eBay India, and eBay India’s current country manager Vidmay Naini is expected to report to Goteti. Note that eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity.

It’s worth noting that Flipkart’s rival Snapdeal had earlier sold a minority stake to eBay for an undisclosed amount in 2013, and a couple of years later, in August 2015, eBay sold a partial stake in Snapdeal to focus on its India operations.

Flipkart funding

Flipkart had another round of funding in August this year from SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. The deal is believed to be in the $2.5-2.6 billion range, which makes the Vision Fund one of the biggest shareholders in the company. The investment was a mix of primary and secondary capital and gave a partial exit to Flipkart’s biggest backer Tiger Global. The company added that the investment was part of the previous financing round, where Flipkart had raised capital from Tencent, eBay and Microsoft.