Amazon.com Inc's proposed deal to buy Rocket Internet-backed Indian lifestyle e-tailer Jabong.com, which could have been the biggest ever buy for the US-based e-com giant, has been called off, sources privy to the development told VCCircle.
VCCircle had previously reported that the two companies met in November to discuss the potential deal.
which pegged Jabong's valuation at around $1.2 billion.
The exact reason for the deal being scrapped couldn't be ascertained.
When contacted, Jabong’s co-founder Praveen Sinha declined to comment. An email query sent to Amazon’s India team, elicited no response till the time of posting this article.
Jabong is now concentrating on its global integration into Global Fashion Group (GFG) which will be operational in the next two to three months.
GFG is an emerging markets-focused fashion e-commerce firm. Apart from Jabong, GFG would have Dafiti (Latin America), Lamoda (Russia and CIS), Namshi (Middle East) and Zalora (South East Asia and Australia) covering 23 countries.
Talks of a potential deal between Amazon and Jabong had gained momentum soon after Flipkart bought Jabong’s rival Myntra.
If the deal had progressed, it would have been a landmark development and the largest M&A in the e-commerce sector in India.
It could have pitched Amazon as a much stronger competitor for Flipkart-Myntra combine.
Jabong is one of the two top lifestyle e-tailers in the country along with Myntra. Besides, Rocket Internet, it also counts Swedish investment group Kinnevik as a shareholder.
In a separate development, Amazon was also reportedly in talks to buy London-based luxury fashion products e-tailer Net-A-Porter. Early this week, Italian online fashion retailer Yoox inked the deal to buy Net-A-Porter.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
