Amazon Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Jabong for $1.2 Billion

Amazon is reportedly planning to buy an Indian online fashion portal Jabong for about $1.1 - $1.2 billion (approximately Rs. 6,800 - Rs. 7,400 crores).

According to VCCircle, citing two sources close to the matter claims that Amazon has completed its first level of talks to acquire Jabong.com, which is backed by Rocket Internet.

The report on Tuesday, noted that "the meeting took place very recently and it has not even been a week", but it is not immediately clear how the deal would be structured.

"The way the market is placed, fashion is the biggest category. However, it would not be possible for a general merchandiser to crack this industry without targeting inorganic growth," said one source while speaking to VCCircle.

The report adds that another source has further speculated that Amazon would keep Jabong as a separate property after the acquisition.

"It (deal) would be very much on the lines of Amazon's acquisition of Zappos in the US," he said.

On the other hand, a Trak report on Wednesday suggests that there is one more mega deal in the offing, which is Alibaba's acquisition of Snapdeal. Although the report doesn't include any detail regarding Alibaba and the Snapdeal deal, it notes that "Amazon is inching towards acquiring Jabong and Alibaba is watching Snapdeal very closely, and a deal may breakthrough anytime now."

On Wednesday, Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, had said that he plans to invest more funds in India and believes the Internet can transform the country's future.

"We will invest more in India, work with Indian entrepreneurs and technology companies," the billionaire promised in New Delhi, without naming any figures.

He said his Hangzhou-based Alibaba already has on its site a large number of small Indian businesses selling goods from spices and chocolates to tea to more than 400,000 Chinese customers.