MobiKwik may hook up with Freecharge; valuation of new entity pegged at $700 mn-$1 bn

MobiKwik may soon merge with close rival Freecharge in an all-stock deal, according to a report in Business Standard. A Chinese investor, keen to foray into India, is willing to pump Rs USD 200 million into the merged entity. Some banks have also shown interest.

Jason Kothari, the CEO of Freecharge, has been trying to sell off the e-wallet company for sometime now. He has been in talks with various investors in the US and China.

PayPal had earlier shown interest in investing into Freecharge, but the deal did not materialise. PayU, backed by Naspers, is rumoured to be interested in FreeCharge.

Freecharge is a part of online shopping platform Snapdeal, which has also been in merger talks with e-tailer Flipkart.

The merger talks between Freecharge and MobiKwik are in their initial stages. The major investor in both the digital payments companies is Sequoia Capital.

MobiKwik, which has opened 13 new offices in the country and has added over 1,000 employees to its workforce, has also been looking to raise over Rs 1,000 crore and is in advanced talks with many banks and mutual funds. This round of funding should be initiated by the end of April or early May.

Not only MobiKwik, start ups like Flipkart and Paytm are also keen on acquiring Freecharge.

While individually, the two would be valued at USD 300 million each, together, the new entity could be value at around USD 700 million-USD 1 billion.