Read more stories about Public Companies, Indian Unicorns and Telecom in our narratives. View All Narratives

Of hollow victories, vague defeats

Has SoftBank won the battle but lost the war in India?

SoftBank made a whopping $1.5 billion in profit from exiting Flipkart, but it makes for a hollow victory at best and a vague defeat at worst in the larger scheme of things

14/06/18

Sumanth Raghavendra

In August 2017, SoftBank had invested $2.5 billion into Flipkart through a combination of primary and secondary purchases

Now, the company is said to have sold the entire stake to Walmart for $4 billion

But SoftBank probably made this decision more out of compulsion rather than of free choice

A $4-billion exit for a $2.5-billion investment would be the VC equivalent of scoring two runs off a ball in cricket, rather than a sixer. Why do it then?

softbank-pic.jpg

Want to read a free 200 word summary?

What is cooler than a billion dollars? Well, for one thing, $1.5 billion. Rs 10,000 crore if you like your numbers well-rounded. In profit. If you are an investor in India, a return of this size would take you right off the VC sweepstakes in terms of absolute dollars earned. It is a lot cooler…

Read more stories about Softbank, Public Companies and Indian Unicorns in our narratives. Or see all narratives

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Also read our exhaustive coverage about Softbank, Public Companies and Indian Unicorns

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

Already Registered?

Related stories

More stories in /Business & /Commentary

See all in Business & Reportage

This story is for subscribers only.
or

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Also read our exhaustive coverage about Softbank, Public Companies and Indian Unicorns

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

The selected story is available only for paid subscribers. Might want to change your mind!

Subscribe now

Already Registered?

Questions?

What is The Ken?

The Ken is a subscription-driven media site. We write one story a day (weekdays only). These stories have sharp, original insights on technology, business, science and healthcare from India.

Why do I have to sign up to read your stories?

Our stories are not free. Well, some select stories are. But, a significant part of what we write at The Ken is for subscribers only. We put in a lot of effort and resources in writing our stories and believe that you must pay for good journalism.
Hence, our three plans. 1) The annual membership
2) The free sign up
3) The recurring quarterly subscription

On journalism and why you should pay for it, if you haven’t already seen it, here’s a great explainer from John Oliver.

So, one must pay for journalism?

Yes.

How many stories will I get if I take an annual membership?

200+ stories.

And, in the free sign up?

Four stories every month.

Do I get a refund?

We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am not getting my daily emails. Do I have to whitelist emails from The Ken?

An added benefit of your subscription (free/paid) are the daily personalised emails. These emails, at times, might end up in your spam/junk folder due to emojis, attachments or images. In case you’re not receiving these emails, it might help to whitelist us. If the problem still persists, write to us at [email protected].

Why am I unable to access the archives?

Full and unrestricted access to our archives is a feature of our annual membership.

My payment is not going through, what can I do?

Please write to us at [email protected] detailing the payment error or queries.

See all FAQs

    See all results for Ken

    No results found for Ken.