Deal History:

In 2013, Myntra was looking to raise fresh funds but because of a number of factors—the
depreciating rupee, overall negative sentiment about investing in India, Flipkart’s and Jabong’s
aggressive push in fashion—most of the investors declined to risk putting in money into the company.

When Flipkart came to him with a proposal in February, the lure of money—Flipkart has raised $560
million, including $360 million in the past year—was much stronger.

According to conversations with Mukesh Bansal, and investors at the two Bangalore-based firms, four
things convinced Mukesh to sell:
 the presence of common majority shareholders Tiger Global and Accel Partners offered
familiarity and comfort
 the mutual respect between him and his counterparts at Flipkart
 the guarantee of access to a significantly large pool of funds that is unique to Flipkart
 the nerve-wracking experience of the January fund raising, which was closed just as Myntra
was due to run out of cash within a couple of months.

Accel’s Subrata Mitra, Tiger Global’s Lee Fixel and Kalaari Capital’s Vani Kola. Myntra board
member Sudhir Sethi, chairman and managing director at IDG Ventures India, said the board of
directors evaluated other options such as a future initial public offering (IPO), but decided
unanimously that there were “big benefits in merging with Flipkart".

Following two-month long negotiations, the merger was finally announced in May 2013.

Myntra spent April discussing the merger and valuations with other board members, investors such as

However, the deal making wasn't a smooth road as legal due diligence involving a plethora of foreign
investors with different domiciles threatened it at various stages. In fact Myntra went to on raise a
$50 million round from PremjiInvest and others even as it had the Flipkart offer on the even as it had
the Flipkart offer on the table. Myntra continued to engage with newer investors for additional fund
until the transaction details fell in place in early April. Its CEO Mukesh Bansal first hinted at the
possibility of the deal with Flipkart in an interview to TOI on April 7.

"We will retain the same management team at Myntra. Neither employee roles nor the company's
road map will change. The idea is to maintain distance between the two businesses and preserve a
unique culture," said Mukesh Bansal. "Both companies are running at a very fast speed and winning
on the competitive landscape. So we don't want to change that at all," he added.

Mukesh said that he is committed for many more years to the online fashion segment and will
continue with his current role to fuel more growth here. He said, “We have got a fair valuation and as
part of the deal, all the Myntra employees are eligible for universal stock options. They will continue
to work towards our goals and we are targeting $3 billion in GMV alone in the coming years. Together
as a team, we have had a great journey which will last for many decades and reshape our fashion and
retail industries as well.” Myntra is looking forward to seeing many more innovative fashion brands
coming and establishing in the current market.

“Mergers are risky and integration can be very dicey," Myntra’s CEO Mukesh Bansal said in an
interview. “So it was very important for me to ensure that we would not be integrating anything.
Most of the discussions were to ensure that there is absolute alignment about the management
autonomy."
He got what he wanted.
Flipkart has agreed to keep Myntra (pronounced Mint-rah) as a separate entity that will retain its
website and continue to be led by Mukesh Bansal, co-founder Ashutosh Lawania and the rest of the
current management team