A couple of months ago, we reported that online payments platform Paytm was looking to acquire daily-deal startups Nearbuy and Little. Now, the reports are coming up suggesting that Paytm is all set to acquire both companies in a distress sale.
As per the reports, the Noida-based company is likely to acquire both startups for around $30 million, which is roughly ₹196 crore. The report also says that the deal will be a mix of cash and stock.
It is noteworthy that Paytm is already an investor in Little app. Along with SAIF Partners, Paytm had invested around $50 million in the deal discovery mobile app. As a part of the funding round, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Alok Goel got board seats at Little.
Lately, Paytm has been trying to expand its offerings. Along with being an online payments platform, the company is also allowing users to book movies, make reservations for hotels and travel, among others.
The company recently acquired a majority stake in ticketing platform Insider.in to allow events on Insider.in to show up on Paytm. With the acquisition of Nearby and Little, the Noida-based startup is hoping to accelerate mobile transactions on its platform.
Little is a mobile marketplace for offline deals including restaurants, movies, hotels, salons, gyms and spas. For merchants, the platform acts as a sales platform they can use to gain intelligence about customers in the vicinity, send timely notifications and offer relevant deals.
On the other hand, Nearbuy, which is based in Gurugram, was previously a part of NASDAQ-listed Groupon Inc. It spun-out into a separate entity in the year 2015, and was rebranded as Nearby with an organizational reshuffle.