Walmart eyes over 40% stake in Flipkart

Mumbai: Walmart is in talks to buy a stake of more than 40 per cent in Indian ecommerce firm Flipkart, a direct challenge to Amazon in Asia’s third- largest economy, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Mumbai, Feb. 16: Walmart Inc is in talks to purchase a stake of more than 40 per cent in Flipkart, a direct challenge to Amazon. com Inc in Asia’s third- largest economy, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

In what would be one of its biggest overseas deals, the US retailer is looking at buying new and existing shares in Flipkart and due diligence is likely to begin as early as next week, the sources said. They declined to be named as the talks were private.

Terms under discussion were not immediately available, but Flipkart would be valued at more than the $ 12 billion figure given when Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund took roughly a fifth of the firm last year for $ 2.5 billion, they added.

A spokesman for Flipkart said the company does not comment on rumours or speculation. An India- based representative for Walmart declined to comment.

A deal with Walmart would give Flipkart much needed muscle in its fight against Amazon, which has committed to investing $ 5 billion in India as it expands aggressively, including into online grocery deliveries.

For Bentonville, Arkansasbased Walmart, a deal would open a new front in its efforts to take on Amazon, giving the world’s largest brick- and- mortar retailer access to an ecommerce market that Morgan Stanley has estimated will rapidly grow to be worth $ 200 billion in a decade.

It would be part of a huge e- commerce push that has seen Walmart acquire a slew of startups.

A DEAL with Walmart would give Flipkart much needed muscle in its fight against Amazon, which has committed to investing $ 5 billion in India.