Walmart buys 77% equity stake in Flipkart for $16 bn

TIL Desk/Business/Bengaluru/ In a mega deal in India’s e-commerce space, the world’s retail giant, Walmart Inc, on Wednesday announced it was buying 77 per cent equity stake in the country’s largest e-tailor Flipkart for $16 billion.

“Subject to regulatory approval in India, Walmart will pay $16 billion (Rs 1,07,662 crore at $67.3) for 77 per cent equity stake in Flipkart,” the Arkansas-based firm said in a statement from the US.

The acquisition of the majority stake makes the $500-billion Walmart the largest shareholder of the city-based Flipkart group and will help accelerate its mission to transform e-commerce through digital technology.

“The investment underscores our commitment to sustained job creation and investment in India, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies,” said Walmart.

As part of the agreement, the remaining 33 per cent of the equity will be with Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and institutional investors Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tiger Global Management LLC and Microsoft Corporation.

“Though the focus will be on serving customers and growing the business, we will support Flipkart’s ambition to transition into a publicly-listed, majority-owned subsidiary in the future,” the statement said.