eBay has agreed to buy a 5.5 per cent stake in Indian eCommerce marketplace Paytm Mall. The deal will see eBay’s inventory become accessible to all of Paytm Mall’s active customers.

The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the deal, but reports suggest that eBay is investing around $165m in the firm based in the Noida part of Uttar Pradesh state at a valuation of $3bn.

“We are deeply committed to India and believe there is huge growth potential and significant opportunity in this dynamic market,” said Jooman Park, eBay senior vice president, APAC. “This new relationship will accelerate our cross-border trade efforts in a rapidly growing market, providing hundreds of millions of Paytm and Paytm Mall customers with access to eBay’s unparalleled selection of goods.” 

The agreement will bring millions of products from eBay sellers around the world to the Paytm Mall shopping platform, which currently boasts over 450m registered customers, more than 130m active users, and over 12m registered merchants.

“Today’s Indian consumers have expanded their horizon and now like shopping for unique products from international platforms,” said Rudra Dalmia, executive director at Paytm Mall. “This new strategic collaboration will ensure Indian consumers are given greater access to eBay’s vast selection of inventory. We’re excited about this relationship with eBay as our cross-border partner and investor and believe together, we will provide buyers and sellers an unparalleled opportunity to discover, engage and transact on our platform.”

eBay is far from a new addition to the Indian market. The company made its first foray there in 2004, commencing its operations through Baazee.com. In April 2017, it was announced that eBay India would become part of the Flipkart Group, as part of a $1.4bn funding round which also included Tencent and Microsoft. eBay also invested $61m in Snapdeal back in 2013, though it wrote off the investment last year.