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Snapdeal close to buying Housing.com for $50-$100 mn
Online marketplace Snapdeal is in the final stages of acquiring online real-estate firm Housing.com.
According to sources and investment bankers, the talks for the deal were on since December and the deal could be finalised for $50-100 million, the publication said.
In December ET reported Housing.com had begun discussions with Snapdeal as well as News Corp, which is a backer of rival PropTiger, for a strategic stake sale, multiple people aware of the talks said, as the Mumbai-based company searches for backers to recover from a year of turmoil which has hurt its standing in the online real estate market.
The talks, which these sources described as ‘nascent’ to ET in December, could result in a deal by the second quarter of 2016 and the final contours will depend on the embattled company’s ability to demonstrate growth in its so-called ‘buy and sell’ business, which allows users to not just find property but engage in a transaction online.
“It will come down to the best price,” said one of the sources about the negotiations, which are being fronted by SoftBank, which is the largest investor in Housing and online marketplace Snapdeal, said the ET report.Housing’s downward spiral started soon after SoftBank led an investment round of $90 million (Rs 540 crore) in November 2014.
The SoftBank funding in 2014 valued Housing at about Rs 1,500 crore. Its co-founder Rahul Yadav engaged in public spats with a prominent venture capital investor, the media, and finally the board of his company, which led to his sacking in July. Drew Hutchison Authentic Jersey
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