eBay is back! E-commerce biggie to buy 5.5% stake in Paytm Mall; Vijay Shekhar Sharma reacts

Popular e-commerce giant, eBay is back and it has agreed to pick up a 5.5% stake in online marketplace Paytm Mall - the the alliance aims to compete in the extremely challenging online retail trade in India. The transaction was agreed to by eBay on Thursday, while the numbers for the deal have remained undisclosed so far. The San Jose, California-based eBay is eyeing to park its space in India's growing online business. The two firms did not disclose financial terms of the deal but Paytm said that it will be done in a month’s time and Paytm Mall will list over one million products of eBay. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma,  founder and CEO of Paytm said in a statement, ''The agreement will see more than a million products of EBay be made available for purchase to users on Paytm Mall. We will jointly select the inventory we want to bring here. It will be done in a month’s time.''

The deal could strengthen Paytm Mall’s space in India, while the online retail business in the country is led by Walmart owned Flipkart and Amazon India. The move is expected to get both companies benefits as the online retail sales in India are expected to grow to about $72 billion in three years, according to research firm eMarketer.

eBay’s is investing in India for the third time, as earlier the company invested in Snapdeal and Flipkart. eBay sold its stake for $1.1 billion and relaunched its e-commerce site after Filpkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion. 

Jooman Park, Senior Vice President of EBay’s APAC business said, “We are deeply committed to India and believe there is huge growth potential and significant opportunity in this dynamic market. This new relationship will accelerate our cross-border trade efforts in a rapidly growing market, providing hundreds of millions of Paytm and Paytm Mall customers with access to EBay’s unparalleled selection of goods.”