To grab a minority stake in the company, Fairfax Financial Holdings is reportedly in advanced talks with Infibeam, Ahmedabad-based online listed e-commerce startup.

According to the media reports, the company is looking to invest around Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 crore in the company, for a stake of around 10 to 12 percent. Infibeam reportedly will use the funding to fund its expansion plans. As told to ETtech, KPMG has helped with the valuation for the deal and investment bank CLSA Singapore has been advising Infibeam.

Not only this, the report suggests that Fairfax has convinced other investors including CDPQ, Fidelity and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) who had earlier shown interest in picking up a stake in the company.

If reports to be believed, the investment is expected to take place at a premium of about Rs 1,500 per share to the current market price of Rs 1,438.

Commenting on the development, a person aware of the development said, “Either the company will look to acquire a company or will help a global player with its India entry. In both cases it needs capital.With its global reach and deep pockets, the evergreen fund (Fairfax) was a preferred partner for the company.”

Founded in 2007 by Sachin Dalal, Infibeam is the only profitable e-commerce marketplace in India. The company went public in April last year with listing on NSE. Recently, Infibeam was involved in the merger talks with troubled e-commerce platform Snapdeal. However, the deal didn’t work out.

According to Vishal Mehta, CEO of the company the company will be investing around Rs 37.5 crore in the e-commerce segment this year to expand to 75 cities in the country.

Infibeam posted a net profit of Rs 19.7 crore for the quarter that ended June 30 (Q1 FY17), growing 107% from Rs 9.6 crore in the same quarter. Its net profit also grew 44.85 percent from the preceding quarter.
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