With the recent Walmart acquisition of Flipkart as a base, an industry expert analyses the mergers and acquisitions (M&As) activity within India's start-up landscape.
The recent acquisition of Flipkart by the US retail giant Walmart is the buzz word in the start-up ecosystem in India. Walmart picked up 77 per cent stake in India's largest online retailer, Flipkart, for $16 Billion. Experts have categorised this as the country's largest acquisition and the world's biggest purchase of an e-commerce company.
This has led to a discussion around M&As as a trend, which offers an easy and quick exit for start-ups and early stage investors.
In recent times, India has seen the M&As scenario change drastically - from big acquisition or acqui-hires to M&As between start-ups which have raised angel to Series B funding. Over the years, the latter has gradually and steadily been on the rise. As reported by media platform Inc42, until November 2017 the start-up ecosystem of India had witnessed 123 acquisitions as against 155 in 2016 and 117 in 2015.
What has been interesting to see is that not all M&As are hostile. Some of them have been a game-changer for the existing market. These acquisitions have been by larger corporates, established as well as fast growing start-ups and global giants and venture capitalists (VCs).