Partnership formed to enhance new strategic opportunities
Online marketplace, ShopClues is being acquired by Qoo10. It is a Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, formerly known as GMarket, headquartered in Singapore. This deal happened in an all-stock agreement to end an extended search for an Indian buyer.
This partnership brings new prospects for both the companies as well as for consumers and sellers across Asia. According to report, the business agreement of ShopClues has been done at value $70-100 million. It is a great opportunity for micro merchants of ShopClues platform to expand new strategies in e-commerce platform and will be able to access to global markets via Qoo10’s presence in South East Asia.
To expand presence in Indian market as a cross border ecommerce platform
Established in 2010, Qoo 10 with more than 3 million registered users has become Singapore’s top ecommerce platform. It operates in local marketplace across Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. Qoo 10’s CEO Ku Young Bae had earlier invested an estimated $1 million in ShopClues in his personal capacity. This contract is one of the largest agreements for investors like Nexus Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partner which gives company many strategic opportunities across their funds, said by reporters.
ShopClues, founded in 2011 by Sandeep Aggarwal, has had a tumultuous leadership history, with its founder stepping down as CEO in 2015 after being charged with insider trading in the US, and handing over operations to Radhika Ghai Aggarwal and Sanjay Sethi. The economics loss company has been seeking for fresh investments, having survived on multiple bridge rounds from its existing set of backers, and later looking for buyers after fresh financing rounds failed to materialise.
ShopClues has been looking for buyer about last six months. Since last year, ShopClues has been going with several problems including shrinking scale, inability to raise capital. The firm has fired over 500 people across several batches. ShopClues has certainly avoided collapse through this deal. The company has been acquired in less capital it raised across several institutional rounds.
