Snapdeal drops IPO plan, here's the reason

Amid weak market conditions, e-commerce player Snapdeal has shelved its plan for IPO through which it was planning to issue fresh equity shares worth Rs 1,250 crore.

The company had earlier announced placing over 3 crore shares for an offer for sale under its IPO plan.

The company has not decided on any fresh timeline for the IPO.

When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson said: "Considering the prevailing market conditions, the company has decided to withdraw the DRHP. The company may reconsider an IPO in the future, depending on its need for growth capital and market conditions".

At the time of filing the draft paper with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), market sources had indicated the company is looking at a valuation of over USD 1.5 to 1.7 billion.

Under the offer, Starfish I Pte, Wonderful Stars, Sequoia Capital, Kenneth Stuart Glass, Myriad Opportunities Master Fund, Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan Board, Laurent Amouyal and Milestone Trusteeship Services were selling their shares.

However, Snapdeal's founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal were not selling their holdings in the IPO.

Once a leading player in the Indian e-commerce space, Snapdeal has seen its fortunes falling amid strong competition from rivals Amazon and Flipkart.

In 2017, Snapdeal walked away from a potential merger deal with Flipkart and instead pursued what it called the 'Snapdeal 2.0' strategy to become "financially self-sustainable".

Snapdeal focuses exclusively on the value segment, with more than 90 per cent of the products sold on the platform priced below Rs 1,000 and more than 80 per cent of its users residing beyond the metro cities.