Walmart to buy controlling stake in Flipkart next week: Report

Interestingly, Sachin and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, are also likely to sell their stake as part of the deal.

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Walmart Inc may seal a deal to buy more than 51% stake in Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart in the coming week, reports Reuters citing two sources familiar with the matter. The US-based retail giant has been planning to acquire controlling stake in Flipkart to take on Amazon in the Indian market, where the e-commerce industry is expected to grow to $200 billion in the next 10 years.

 
Walmart to buy controlling stake in Flipkart next week: Report

SoftBank Group, which is one of the main investors of Flipkart, was not keen on selling a part of its stake. According to the report, the Japanese firm earlier believed Walmart's offer to buy the existing shares at a valuation of $12 billion was not worth it. However, the conflict between SoftBank and Walmart has now been solved, claims one of the sources.

 

At the moment, it's unclear whether or not SoftBank has agreed to sell some of its shares in Flipkart. Flipkart's value will be increased to at least $18 billion after Walmart buys the equity.

Previous reports suggest Walmart is done with due diligence on Flipkart and has made a proposal to acquire 51% or more for between $10 billion to $12 billion. Besides this, another source claims a deal is made, but things will not get finalized before the first week of May.

Rumors have it after Walmart buys the shares, some of Flipkart's current investors like US hedge fund Tiger Global Management, South African tech investor Naspers and venture capital firm Accel may cut ties with the company.

Interestingly, Sachin and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, are also likely to sell their stake as part of the deal, says one of the sources. As of now, neither Walmart nor Flipkart has issued any statements on this. SoftBank has declined to make any comments as well.

Earlier this month,Indian Cellular Association (ICA) accused some e-commerce platforms including Flipkart of violating foreign direct investment (FDI) rulesas they offer direct and indirect discounts on mobile devices and other products through intermediaries or partner companies.

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ICA representatives alleged that the companies were bypassing rules under Press Note 3 on FDI by holding inventory and influencing the prices of electronic goods.

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