Snapdeal sells 30% in subsidiary Unicommerce to Softbank, ahead of its IPO

Unicommerce, a fully owned subsidiary of IPO-bound Snapdeal, has raised investment from Softbank for around 30 percent stake, sources privy to the development said.

The size of the deal couldn't be ascertained immediately. Entracker was the first to report this development. The investment comes at a time when Snapdeal is in final stages to file draft papers for a $250-million public listing. The IPO will see Softbank, which is Snapdeal's lead investor, reduce its shareholding from 34 percent t0 24 percent.

The company has appointed Bank of America, besides Axis Bank and JM Financial, for the public listing.

Unicommerce is Snapdeal's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform which provides software for inventory management, warehouse management, automation and order management. Besides India, it offers services in markets such as Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

With the rise in the growth of e-commerce, the need for software solutions providers has also increased phenomenally in the country. For instance, Indian SaaS start-ups raised a record $4.5 billion from investors in 2021, nearly three times the previous year, according to a report from consultancy firm Bain and Co. The year also created six SaaS unicorns being valued at over a billion dollars or more.

Snapdeal recently made an offline foray with plans to set up partner stores across the country. The first Snapdeal partner store will be launched in January. The company plans to gradually expand the number to around 25 by the end of the next year.