Snapdeal’s investors cross swords; SoftBank cancels $150-200 million debt financing

Nothing seems to be going well between the board members of Jasper Infotech, which owns Snapdeal.

Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners are at loggerheads with Japanese investor SoftBank, which has now cancelled a $150-200 million debt financing offer to Snapdeal.

As per various reports, SoftBank is now interested in either merger or sell out of Snapdeal without any involvement of the other investors. ET reported SoftBank has been talking to several people for the deal without keeping Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners in loop.

"Both Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners are livid at the developments, and have questioned SoftBank about its intention with regard to Snapdeal,” ET quoted one of its sources as saying.

"There was a term-sheet offering Snapdeal debt financing for a period of three years, which was, inexplicably, withdrawn within days, giving credence that Soft-Bank has made up its mind about selling the company,” a second person told ET.

SoftBank has seats at the table, while Kalaari and Nexus have one each on Jasper’s board that includes cofounders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman Akhil Gupta as an independent director.

Apparently, the differences within the board are not new. In December, SoftBank had offered a direct $50-million monthly injection in Snapdeal, contingent on a potential merger or sale of the company. Kalaari and Nexus Venture Partners disagreed with the terms.

SoftBank's stake in Jasper stood at about 33% while Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners owned about 8% and 10%, respectively. Both the founders, combined, owned about 6.5% of the company, which at its peak early last year was valued at about $6.5 billion.

As per Reuters, SoftBank has reached out to Flipkart to sell Snapdeal.