Flipkart Buys IT and Mobile Repair Services Firm

Leading e-tailer Flipkart on Tuesday announced acquiring F1 Info Solutions, a mobile and IT products repair services firm, for an unspecified amount.

"F1, which has pan-India presence of owned and franchisees, will be part of our third-party service provider Jeeves, which caters to home appliances and furniture," said the city-based e-commerce major in a statement in Bengaluru.

The acquisition of F1 chain will expand the e-tailer's offerings to mobiles, IT products and consumer electronics from sales to after-sales to repair services.

As part of the deal, F1's co-founder and Chief Executive Shammi Moza will join Flipkart as a Senior Director and look after its expanded business. He will report to Jeeves Head Abhijit Upadhye.

Set up in 2012, the five-year-old F1 chain has 158 repair service centres in 135 cities across the country.

"With about 1,000 employees, including technicians, F1 chain takes about 50,000 service calls a month across the centres," said the statement.

F1 is also a service partner for leading mobile and IT products such as Apple, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, Sony and Asus.

The acquisition will compliment Jeeves' expertise in large appliances and furniture at F1's service centres and benefit Flipkart's customers in getting their devices repaired.

"The acquisition of F1 will enable us to give our customers a comprehensive service ecosystem, including repair of all their products," said Flipkart Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy on the occasion.

Foraying into smartphones segment in 2014, Flipkart brought to customers mobiles from global makers and made them affordable with no cost EMI, product exchange and buyback guarantees.

"With F1 chain, our capabilities in mobile phones become a service differentiator vis-a-via competitors," added the statement.

As the largest online retail portal with an estimated 100-million customer base, the decade-old Flipkart offers a whopping 80 million products across 80 categories through cash on delivery and no cost EMI across the country.