Walmart seals deal to acquire majority stake in Flipkart

■ US retail behemoth now holds approximately 77% of Flipkart ◗ Walmart said its investment includes $ 2 billion of new equity funding to help accelerate the growth of the Flipkart business

New Delhi: US retail behemoth Walmart said on Saturday that it has completed its $ 16 billion acquisition of a majority stake in India’s largest e- commerce company Flipkart despite opposition from RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch and small traders. Walmart said its investment includes $ 2 billion of new equity funding to help accelerate the growth of Flipkart.

US retail behemoth Walmart said on Saturday that it has completed its $ 16 billion acquisition of a majority stake in India’s largest e- commerce company Flipkart despite opposition from RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch and small traders.

Walmart said its investment includes $ 2 billion of new equity funding to help accelerate the growth of the Flipkart business.

This is world’s biggest ecommerce deal.

With this deal Indian ecommerce scene will now be dominated by two US retailers :

Walmart and Amazon. India will be new frontier which will see extension of their war for dominance which is already underplay in US.

After the completion of the investment, Walmart now holds approximately 77 percent of Flipkart. The remainder of the business is held by other shareholders, including Flipkart co- founder Binny Bansal, Tencent, Tiger Global and Microsoft Corp. Moving forward, Flipkart’s financials will be reported as part of Walmart’s International business segment. Both companies will retain their unique brands and operating structures in India, it said. Walmart said that Flipkart’s existing management team will continue to lead the business. Tencent Holdings Limited and Tiger Global Management LLC will remain represented on the Flipkart board, in addition to independent board members, and will be joined by new members from Walmart. The board will work to maintain Flipkart’s core values and entrepreneurial spirit, while ensuring it has strategic and competitive advantages, it said.

“Walmart and Flipkart will achieve more together than each of us could accomplish separately to contribute to the economic growth of India, creating a strong local business powered by Walmart,” said Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International.