Online retailer Snapdeal set to raise investment of up to $650 mn

Online retailer Snapdeal is close to raising $600 million to $650 million from existing investors, led by Japan's SoftBank Corp, to expand operations, three people involved in the fundraising said.

The amount, set to be the biggest investment in country's growing e-commerce sector after Flipkart raised $1 billion in July, is likely to be announced next week, the sources said.

The people declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media ahead of an official announcement. Snapdeal and SoftBank declined to comment.

The online retailers have been raising funds to expand and compete with bigger rival Amazon.com as more Indians shop on the internet.

Analysts at Nomura estimated in a research note in July that country's e-commerce industry could quadruple to $43 billion over the next five years from $10 billion in 2013, driven by online retail.

Besides SoftBank, Snapdeal's other investors include eBay Inc, Temasek Holdings and Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata conglomerate.

(Reuters)