Paytm has acquired hyerlocal deals apps Nearbuy and Little; will merge the two and integrate them with Paytm

**Paytm**, the mobile wallet company has announced the acquisition of deals and discount apps Nearbuy as well as Little. These two apps focus mainly on deals on local restaurants as well as commercial establishments. According to reports, Paytm is planning to merge the two apps. [caption id=“attachment_3903691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] According to a report in Mint, Sequoia Capital India which is the largest investor in Nearbuy will continue to remain a stakeholder in the merged entity as well. Nearbuy started off as SoSasta, which was then acquired by US deals site Groupon in 2011. By 2013 it was renamed to Groupon India and eventually in 2015 it was named to Nearbuy. Little app started operations in 2015 with a little investment help from Paytm itself, which was testing the waters in hyperlocal deals apps. Acquisition of these deals-focussed apps will give Paytm a boost in its merchant partnerships and potentially larger customer base who are already using these two apps. Paytm also has plans to cross-sell deals from Paytm merchants on Nearbuy and Little. The merger brings the merchant count to 40,000 and the aim of the merged entity will be to expand that number to 100,000 by end of next year. According to Mint, it is not clear whether Paytm has purchased the stakes from Sequoia Capital India for Nearbuy and from Little’s investors SAIF and Tiger Global Management. The merged entity is expected to be valued at $100 million along with a capital investment of $25 million from Paytm according to The Economic Times. Speaking to ET, Ankur Warikoo, the CEO of Nearbuy said that the merged entity will own 88 percent of the local commerce space. Speaking on the acquisition, Paytem founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “This combination of Nearbuy and Little marks a great opportunity for us to reinforce our commitment to support small and large retailers in the new age of mobile commerce and payments. I am sure consumers will love the greater selection and reach of everyday deals and discount offers.”