Turnaround man Jason Kothari quits Snapdeal to head Infibeam

Infibeam appointed Kothari as president, strategy, corporate development, international operations, and investor relations.

After successfully selling three subsidiaries of Kunal Bahl-and Rohit Bansal-led Snapdeal, Jason Kothari has decided to exit the firm.

From being an assistant to Kung Fu star Jackie Chan to selling four distressed e-commerce firms, Kothari, SoftBank Group’s go-to man for troubleshooting and damage control, has seen it all.

Interestingly, it was Kothari who managed the sale of Snapdeal’s e-commerce management firm Unicommerce to Infibeam for Rs 120 crore in May.

Infibeam Incorporation Ltd on Thursday announced the appointment of Kothari as president, strategy, corporate development, international operations, and investor relations.

He will help drive Infibeam's next phase of growth with the leadership team, the company said.

When contacted, Snapdeal said Kothari, who was chief strategy and investment officer, and also briefly headed the company’s digital wallet Freecharge, had put in his papers after successfully completing the task he was specifically brought in for.

“Over the last year and a half, Jason has been instrumental in executing Snapdeal's strategy to divest non-core assets, in order for the company to focus on profitably growing its e-commerce marketplace business.

"Having successfully anchored this divestment process, Jason has now decided to pursue professional opportunities outside Snapdeal. We wish him the very best,” a Snapdeal spokesperson said.

According to industry insiders, Kothari has always been the man who investors banked on for a quick turnaround.

In 2015, he was appointed chief executive officer of Housing.com, four months after the company's board sacked CEO Rahul Yadav.

In 2017, he sold it to News Corp-backed real estate portal PropTiger in an all-stock deal worth $70 million, helping investors, including SoftBank, get some return on the $100 million plus investment.

Photograph: Kind courtesy, Business Standard