Snapdeal-Flipkart deal may leave staff richer by `193 cr

Sale of a company often leaves employees high and dry, but not in the case of Snapdeal that may offer a Rs 193 crore bonanza to its staff if the homegrown e-commerce firm is taken over by larger rival Flipkart.

According to sources, if the deal goes through, the founders will give half of their payout ($30 million) for the proposed scheme which would cover all current employees of Snapdeal. Snapdeal has about 1,500-2,000 staffers.

"The founders have asked the Board to carve out $30 million (about Rs 193 crore) from their settlement for payouts to the Snapdeal team. They want to ensure that the team does not get sidelined in any manner," they added.

Some former senior executives of Snapdeal, who have left the firm in the last 12 months, could also benefit from the process. E-mails sent to Snapdeal did not elicit any response.

The intent is also to compensate for the ESOPs that were issued to senior employees.

The value of their shares and options have eroded and would be worthless once the deal is signed, one of them said.

Interestingly, the deal-linked payment would also be extended to employees who do not own ESOPs to reward those staying on with Snapdeal till the proposed transaction with Flipkart is complete. If the deal goes through, Snapdeal founders will get $60 million (cumulative), of which half will be given to employees. Japanese conglomerate and Snapdeal's largest investor SoftBank has initiated the process to sell the beleaguered online marketplace to bigger rival Flipkart. It has managed to get Board members, which also includes the founders (Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal) and early investors Kalaari and Nexus Venture Partners, to agree to the potential deal. Nexus Venture Partners could get close to $80 million and a stake in the merged/new entity, while Kalaari could get about $70-80 million.