Flipkart has appointed its head of marketplace Anil Goteti to lead eBay India, which the homegrown ecommerce major acquired recently as part of a $1.4 billion fundraising round.
Goteti, who joined Flipkart in March 2013, currently heads the marketplace business, pricing and promotions platforms at the firm.
Goteti has worked with Mckinsey & Company and Qualcomm in the past.
A Flipkart spokesperson confirmed the appointment but declined to disclose more information.
The Economic Times, which first reported the development, said Goteti will also lead cross-border trade business at eBay India. Vidmay Naini, who is currently country manager at eBay India, will report to Goteti, the report said.
Naini was appointed recently when his predecessor Latif Nathani, who was managing director and vice president of eBay India since May 2013, resigned from the company.
In February, Ramkumar Narayanan, general manager and global head of monetisation products at eBay Marketplaces in India, had quit the company. He was primarily responsible for generating revenues for eBay.
Early this month, Flipkart said it has concluded the merger with eBay India. Though Flipkart will own and operate eBay.in, the latter will function as an independent entity even as the two firms explore opportunities in cross-border trade, the company said.
According to the firm, customers from both Flipkart and eBay will respectively get access to the inventory from each firm. The partnership will also provide an opportunity for Flipkart’s sellers to expand their sales globally.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved the merger in June.
On 15 June, CCI notified its decision to approve eBay’s subscription of Flipkart’s shares issued by its Singapore-headquartered entity. “CCI India approves subscription by eBay Singapore of CCPS issued by Flipkart and acquisition of eBay India by Flipkart,†the regulator tweeted.
CCI’s approval is paramount for the formal completion of any acquisition and merger deal in the country.
The merger follows Flipkart’s $1.4 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) fundraising from eBay, Chinese Internet firm Tencent, and software giant Microsoft Corp in April this year. In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay made a cash investment and sold its India business to the e-commerce firm.
The deal offers eBay India a face-saving exit from the Indian market. eBay entered India’s e-commerce market much before Flipkart and Amazon with the acquisition of Bazee.com in 2004 but could never make it big in the market with its pure-play marketplace model.
VCCircle previously reported that the merger deal reflected Flipkart’s eagerness to keep the funding tap flowing. A constant flow of external funding has become an essential part of Flipkart’s strategy to achieve a turnaround and stay relevant in its all-out war with the fund-flushed US e-commerce behemoth Amazon.
