Alibaba In Talks To Buy $1.2 Billion Stake In India Phone Maker Micromax: Sources

[Ron Burgundy]

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sumeet Chatterjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding is in talks with India's Micromax Informatics to buy an about 20 percent stake in the smartphone maker, helping the Chinese e-commerce giant expand in one of the world's fastest growing markets for the devices, several people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deal, if completed, would see Alibaba investing as much as $1.2 billion in Micromax, the second-largest smartphone brand in India by sales, at up to $6 billion, two of the people said. India is the world's third largest smartphone market and was the fastest growing in the Asia Pacific region in the third quarter of last year, according to industry research firm International Data Corporation. Micromax and Alibaba began talks on the stake sale after discussions with investors led by Japanese telecoms firm Softbank Corp stalled over differences in valuations, the sources said.

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