Snapdeal appoints Srinivas Murthy as Marketing Head

Leading ecommerce player Snapdeal has roped in former Coca-Cola India and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) executive Idimadakala Srinivas Murthy as its Senior Vice-President, Marketing. Murthy replaces Sandeep Komaravelly, who will now be heading another strategic initiative at Snapdeal.

In his previous role, Murthy was Regional Director of Marketing, Africa at GSK. At Coca-Cola India, he worked with the Thums Up and Sprite brands. He would now try to get and convert first-time users to Snapdeal’s platform creating awareness around it.

The Delhi-based e-commerce major is set to announce an initial public offering (IPO) in the US at a valuation of 5-6 billion dollars (over Rs 31,000 to Rs 37,000 crores). Sources claim that the company had appointed merchant bankers for the probable listing on the American stock exchange. The IPO is expected to roll out in 2016-17, will let Snapdeal raise capital, allowing some of its investors to exit.

Funding talks between leading marketplace Snapdeal and Chinese giant Alibaba could not reach a logical conclusion over the high valuation sought by Snapdeal. Amid stiff competition to be ahead in the ecommerce market and also under pressure to turn profitable, Snapdeal was eyeing to scoop a record funding boost of Rs 6,200 crores from Alibaba. Even earlier, the both had held talks but the deal could not get finalized over the same issue.