Alibaba May Buy Stake in Micromax Mobile

Alibaba may be close to signing a deal for a 25 percent stake in Micromax, valuing the company at $3.5 billion. The money shelled out could be anywhere between $700 million and $1 billion, depending on which news report you read. This will be the Chinese company’s second big deal after it bought a quarter of PayTM in February. A few months ago, there was speculation that Micromax promoters have reached out to Alibaba and Softbank for an acquisition as the founders were considering an exit. This seems like a mix of fresh injection of money and a buyout of an existing investor, most probably Sequoia Capital. As of now, all parties are mum, so let’s wait for an official announcement.