Myntra acquires Jabong in deal valued at $70 million

Putting an end to speculations, Flipkart-owned Myntra has acquired Rocket-Internet backed Jabong.  The deal is worth $70 million and is cash-only. Jabong will, for now, continue to work as a separate entity. Investors in Jabong, mainly Rocket Internet and Kinnevick, have now exited.

In a statement, Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra, said:

Jabong has built a strong brand that is synonymous with fashion , a loyal customer base and a unique selection with exclusive global brands. The acquisition of Jabong is a natural step in our journey to be India’s largest fashion platform. We see significant synergies between the two companies especially on brand relationships and consumer experience. We look forward to working with the talented Jabong team to shape the future of fashion and lifestyle ecommerce in India.”

The two will have combined base of 15 million monthly active users, the statement said.

Binny Bansal, CEO and Co-founder, Flipkart said:

Fashion and lifestyle is one of the biggest drivers of ecommerce growth in India. We have always believed in the fashion and lifestyle segment and Myntra’s strong performance has reinforced this faith. This acquisition is a continuation of the group’s journey to transform commerce in India."

Founded by Praveen Sinha and Arun Chandra Mohan and incubated by Rocket Internet, the Delhi-based fashion startup had hired Sanjeev Mohanty as CEO in November 2015.  Rumours have been flying around on acquisition of Jabong in the last few weeks. The more talked about contenders, however, were Jasper Infotech’s Snapdeal, and titans Aditya Birla Group, Future Group and Reliance Industries. Snapdeal was also said to be in talks to buy Jabong’s former logistics arm GoJavas. 

Myntra, co-founded by Mukesh Bansal, Vineet Saxena, Ashutosh Lawaria, and Raveen Sastry in 2007, was acquired by India’s largest online marketplace Flipkart in 2014 for about Rs 2,000 crore.