Alibaba gets CCI nod for acquiring 4.14% stake in Snapdeal

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has received anti-trust regulator CCI's approval for buying 4.14 per cent stake in Snapdeal.

A leading online marketplace, Snapdeal has been raising funds from various investors in recent times. 

Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the "acquisition of approximately 4.14 per cent equity share capital of Jasper Infotech by Alibaba group", the regulator said in a tweet. Jasper Infotech owns Snapdeal.

Approval is required from CCI, which keeps a tab on unfair business practices, for acquisitions beyond a certain threshold.

It was announced in August that Alibaba Group and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology, among others, would invest USD 500 million (about Rs 3,269 crore) in Snapdeal.

At that time, Jasper did not specify the individual investments being made while FIH Mobile Ltd -- a unit of Foxconn -- had said that it was picking up 4.27 per cent stake in the company for USD 200 million.

Existing investors Temasek Holdings Pte, BlackRock Inc, Myriad and Premji Invest had also participated in the fund raising.

Snapdeal, which began as a coupon platform similar to Groupon Inc when it was founded in February 2010, is one of India's three biggest e-tailers.