Walmart's Takeover of Flipkart Gets Clearance From Competition Commission of India
The acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart, in May this year, is stated to be most expensive pact ever inked by the latter, which has presence in 28 countries.
New Delhi, Aug 8: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given a green nod to Walmart's acquisition of India's largest e-commerce firm Flipkart. The deal, valuing US dollar 20.8 billion, will allow the American multinational corporation to own up to 77 per cent in Flipkart.
The acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart, in May this year, is stated to be most expensive pact ever inked by the latter, which has presence in 28 countries.
As part of the deal, Flipkart's executive chairman Sachin Bansal, who co-founded the company 11 years ago, would be making an exit as he has sold his stakes to Walmart at a whopping USD 1 billion (Rs 6,700 crore).
The CCI clearance to the Walmart-Flipkart deal would expedite the takeover and lead to the American firm's much-awaited entry into the Indian retail market.
In a single-line statement issued by the regulator on Twitter, it said, "@CCI_India approves proposed acquisition of Flipkart Private Limited by Wal-Mart International Holdings, Inc."
The CCI approval was necessitated as deals beyond a certain threshold, involving offshore or foreign investors needs to be certified by the regulator which keeps a tab on unfair business practices.
Walmart is expected to completely takeover the operations of Flipkart by the year-end. The company is likely to make new appointments to all top-level posts. The positions of CFO, legal counsel, and compliance officer is likely to be filled by expat executives.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2018 08:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).