Snapdeal to merge with Paytm's e-commerce site: Reports
E-commerce platform Snapdeal is reportedly in talks to merge with Paytm's e-commerce website, called Paytm Mall. According to the report, the deal was initiated by the companies' common investor, China's Alibaba. Japan's SoftBank is also expected to be a major beneficiary of the possible merger, as it reported a loss of ?2,300 crore mainly from its Indian investments including Snapdeal. 
Paytm and Snapdeal are reportedly holding early talks to explore a merger between the Snapdeal and Paytm's e-commerce site that it calls Paytm Mall. The merger has been reportedly discussed as an all-stock deal.According to a report in the Economic Times, the talks were initiated by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. However after a while the talks were put on hold, though are chances that they would resume once the consent of all stakeholders has been taken.   "Snapdeal and Paytm have held talks to merge and this deal is driven by Alibaba," noted the ET report, citing an unnamed source.Also Read:  Apple to invest $1 billion in SoftBank tech fundIf the deal finalises, the two biggest beneficiaries will be Alibaba, which holds 40 per cent stake in Paytm and around 3 per cent in Snapdeal, and Japan's Softbank, a major investor in Snapdeal. Softbank recently lost nearly $350 million on investments in Snapdeal and Ola.The deal can prove to be a boon for Snapdeal which is seemingly going through tough times and has slipped to third position in the Indian e-commerce market. The company is seeing a tough fight with rivals like Flipkart and Amazon. Reportedly, the company lost nearly Rs 2,960 crore in the  financial year ending March 31, 2016.