Merger called off after months of talks.

After about five months of negotiations, the struggling home grown e-commerce firm Snapdeal on Monday called off the “exhausting process” of merger talks with rival Flipkart, opting to compete in the cut-throat e-tail space on its own.

“Snapdeal has been exploring strategic options over the last several months. The company has now decided to pursue an independent path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result,” the company said in a statement, without naming Flipkart.

In a joint letter to its employees, Snapdeal’s two co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal said a lot of time and effort has gone into the process from all participants, leading to intense speculations and uncertainty for the team, partners and shareholders.

“And now it is time to finally put an end to this saga. We will be continuing the Snapdeal journey as an independent company,” they said, adding that the company will now pursue a new direction — Snapdeal 2.0.

Mr. Bahl and Mr. Bansal are betting on money made from the sale of assets such as Freecharge to be financially “self sustainable” without the need to raise additional funds. Snapdeal had last week sold Freecharge to Axis Bank for ₹385 crore, over 80% lower than what the firm had originally paid to acquire the payment wallet business in 2015. However, the founders are confident of achieving gross profit of over ₹150 crore in the next 12 months.

The company’s largest investor Softbank, which was pushing for the deal with Flipkart, said in a statement that they respect the decision and “look forward to the results of the Snapdeal 2.0 strategy, and to remaining invested in the vibrant Indian e-commerce space”.

The move could have implications on its staff strength and trigger a shift in its managements approach, including the induction of professionals in key roles. The company currently employs around 1,200 people.