Deal proposes share swap of 1:10; two early investors seek $100 m each
Biswarup Gooptu & Madhav Chanchani
New Delhi | Bengaluru: Soft-Bank, the largest shareholder inSnapdeal, held boardroom discus-sions on the proposed sale of theonline marketplace to rival Flip-kart on Tuesday, according to twopeople aware of the development.
According to the terms proposedby the Japanese media and tele-com conglomerate, Snapdeal sha-reholders will get one share ofFlipkart for every ten they own,said the people cited above. Earlyinvestors in Snapdeal — KalaariCapital and Nexus Venture Part-ners — have also asked for about$100 million each from the sale,the sources said.The proposed sale could see
SoftBank pick up a 20% stakein the country’s largest ecom-merce company for about $1.5billion, in the process buyingout $500 million to $1 billion
worth of Tiger Global’s hol-ding in Flipkart, according totwo people aware of the matter.
Alibaba-backed Paytm E-com-merce has also discussed a poten-tial acquisition of Snapdeal, butthe valuation offered was muchlower than that offered by Flip-kart, added another source.
The deal, if completed, will markthe biggest acquisition in the Indi-an ecommerce industry and also
redefine contours of the Indianonline retail market where US’Amazon and China’s Alibaba arealso major players. “A final deci-sion on the sale is yet to be taken,”the person said.
The meeting signals easing oftensions between Kalaari andNexus, and SoftBank, said one ofthe sources mentioned above.
Governance rights Also Discussed��21
SoftBank Moots SnapdealSale to Flipkart in Meet
Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp is exploring the
unified payments interface (UPI) among other payment
modes to launch its payment solution in India.��6
WhatsApp Exploring UPI Option
WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2017
BRANDS: CREATING DESIRE��5 SPORTS: THE GREAT GAMES��22AROUND THE WORLD��19
BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.
THE ECONOMIC TIMESWWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
Maruti Suzuki Now theLord of All it Surveys
Trump Signs Repeal of USBroadband Privacy Rules
Tenth Edition of IPL Gets Underway Today
MUMBAI | 22 + 4 PAGES OF BRAND EQUITY + 4 PAGES OF ET PANACHE | .̀ 4.00 OR .̀ 7.00 ALONG WITH THE TIMES OF INDIA
Scorching Heat Ensures BumperSales for Consumer Goods in MarchThe heat wave across several parts of the country
has come to the rescue of air-conditioner, re-
frigerator, ice cream and soft drink makers which
were otherwise reeling under severe consumer
fatigue for at least a couple of quarters.
Brands: Creating Desire��5
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Indian IT Needs New Spark AfterLosing Visa Power in Key Markets Indian IT companies will have to seek new ways
of doing business as governments in key markets
such as the US, UK and Singapore place a slew of
restrictions on travel and immigration of engine-
ers that are disrupting the outsourcing model.
Disruption: Startups & Tech��6
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Reliance Capital in Talks withChinese Firms to Exit Prime FocusAnil Ambani's Reliance Capital has initiated talks
with likely Chinese strategic buyers such as
Dalian Wanda Group, TenCent, or even Alibaba to
sell its entire 35.1% stake in Prime Focus, the
world's largest integrated media services compa-
ny, specialising in visual effects, animation and
post production services for films and television.
Companies: Pursuit of Profit ��16
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ONGC Videsh may Invest over $3 Bto Develop Iran’s Farzad B Gas BlockONGC Videsh has revised its proposal to develop
Iran’s Farzad B gas block and could invest over $3
billion on the project. OVL sees output from the
asset rising to 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of gas
in five years from the launch of the project.
Economy: Macro, Micro & More �� 21
Inside story
Is Murthy right in questioning Infosys' policyof paying top dollar to retain top talent?
www.economictimes.com
Do you think the US job market is underthreat from low-skilled foreign workers?
TODAY’S QUESTION
65%YES
32%NO
3%CAN’T SAY
Payments through
the system jump
20% to .̀ 2,000 cr
in March over Jan
transactions is driven majorlyby the government-promotedBHIM (Bharat Interface forMoney) and non-bank paymentapps such as PhonePe and Tru-pay, industry experts say.
Merchant Transactions may Rise��21
Mumbai: Digital paymentsthrough the Unified PaymentsInterface (UPI), the mobile-based national payment system,continue to surge even after theend of demonetisation-inducedcash shortage, latest data fromReserve Bank of India shows.
UPI-based transactions jump-ed almost 20% to .̀ 2,000 crore inMarch, up from .̀ 1,660 crore inJanuary. The figures boostPrime Minister Narendra Mo-di’s agenda of ending blackmoney through digital pay-ments and the penetration offormal finance in the hinter-land of the country.
“We already have 44 banks onUPI, of which 35 have their ownapplications available on the(Google) Play Store; BHIM isseeing around 80,000 transac-tions per day; and we are regis-tering almost 2 lakh transac-tions on the entire UPI rail-road,” said AP Hota, managingdirector at National PaymentsCorporation of India, the bodythat runs the UPI platform andBHIM app.
The growth in UPI-based
BOOST FOR MODI’S VISION
UPI-BASED TRANSACTIONS
MARCH1970 49
FEBRUARY1900 42
JANUARY1660 42
Value (` cr) Volume (lakh)
UPI for merchant payments through PoS terminals & QR codegenerated through BharatQR
LATEST ADDITIONS TO UPI STABLE
Surging Ahead
FEATURESNo of transactionson BHIM: 80,000 per day
Upper limit on UPI transfers:`1 lakh
No of banks live on UPI: 44No of bank-ledapplications: 35Avg value of transactions: `4,000
Mumbai: For as long as anyonecan remember, producing fakeproperty rent receipt, often fromparents and relatives, has been aneasy way to lower tax burden.Such cavalier disregard for taxrule was overlooked by most em-ployers as well as taxman, whopossibly felt it was a minor trans-gression. Perhaps, not anymore.
The income tax department nowhas good reason to insist on prooffrom the tax payer showing that heis indeed a genuine tenant, stay-ing in the property in question.
A salaried employee receiving‘house rent allowance’ from theemployer could escape paying tax
on at least 60% of this amount bygenerating sham rent receipt.
However, according to a recenttribunal ruling, the assessing of-ficer can now demand proof —such as leave and licence agree-ment, letter to the housing co-op-erative society informing aboutthe tenancy, electricity bill, waterbill etc. — in allowing a lower tax-able income as computed by a sal-aried employee.
Precedent Set by ITAT Mumbai��21
Rent Receipts Under I-T LensLease deed, power bill etc may be needed for claiming HRA rebate
The Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment in UP, in its first
Cabinet meeting on Tues-
day, decided to waive agrar-
ian loans worth .̀ 36,359
crore of nearly 87 lakh small
and marginal farmers. The
Centre would not help the
state fund this massive loan
waiver, reports AmanSharma. The one “condition”
in the decision, as per the UP
government, is that loan of
only up to .̀1lakh of each
such farmer will be waived .
In its election manifesto, BJP
had promised to waive
entire farm loans of small
and marginal farmers.
FULL REPORT ��PAGE 2
UP to Waive.̀ 36,359 cr ofFarm Loans
Liquor vendors,
suppliers, bar
owners and tip-
plers are either in a wait-and-
watch mode or hurriedly
planning remedial action as
states and the Centre strug-
gle to find ways to comply
with the SC order that banned
sale of liquor within 500
metres of highways.��8
Ban-hit LiquorVendors PlanRemedial Action
Ready To Load The Cart?Deal proposes 1 Flipkart stock for every 10 Snapdeal shares
Jasper board has not taken a decision on the proposed sale
SoftBank holds 33% in Snapdeal while Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners own about 8% & 10%, respectively
Cofounders Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal together own about
6.5%in thecompany
Kalaari & Nexusmay earn a payout of$100 millioneach from the buyout
Proposed sale could see SoftBank pick up a 20% stake in Flipkart for about $1.5 b
Alibaba-backed Paytm Ecommerce also has held talks to acquire Snapdeal
The Tax AxeMany availingHRA submit fake rent receipt to evade tax
A tax tribunal has struck down an exemption claim
Assessing offi cermay cross-check address from ITR form
Tax offi cers may now deny such claim
NITI AAYOG BATS FOR LOWER MDR ��17
Many expatriates would need to have an Aadhaar number
after the Finance Act, 2017—effective July 1— made it manda-
tory to enrol for Aadhaar in order to file a return in India.��13
Aadhaar Requirement for Expats
The Right Click:UPI Leads Boomin Digital India
