India-based online retail service Paytm E-Commerce is set to raise $200m in a funding round led by e-commerce group Alibaba, the Financial Times reported today.
Alibaba will commit $177m while investment fund Saif Partners will supply the remaining $23m to the deal, which values Paytm E-Commerce at$1bn. The round was first reported a month ago, when it was sized at $180m to $200m.
The investment gives Alibaba and its financial services affiliate Ant Financial a majority stake in the business, which was spun out last year of Paytm, the mobile payment platform owned by e-commerce group One97 Communications.
Paytm E-Commerce oversees the firm’s e-commerce functions. It was previously said to be planning a rebrand to PaytmMall, though the FT made no mention of this in its article.
The money is expected to give Paytm E-Commerce some runway in catching up to market leaders Flikpart and Amazon India.
Alibaba is reportedly also considering a merger between Paytm E-Commerce and Snapdeal, the e-commerce company backed by Alibaba and telecoms giant SoftBank that has been struggling with a drop in valuation.