Walmart Takes Over Flipkart, It's Official! Confirms SoftBank CEO
Reports appeared few days back which suggested that Amazon countered Walmart's bid to buy Flipkart.
Putting an end to all the speculations, Global retail giant Walmart has formally agreed to buy a majority stake in Flipkart. According to a Bloomberg report, the deal touted to be the biggest in the e-commerce space was confirmed by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son in an earnings webcast. SoftBank is the most significant shareholder in Flipkart with a stake of 23.62 percent.
Reportedly, the deal with Flipkart is Walmart’s biggest acquisition, after the $10.8 billion purchase in 1999 of British retail chain Asda which it has now agreed to sell to British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.
Walmart and Google parent Alphabet Inc will now acquire 70-75 percent of Flipkart for about $20 billion. According to recent reports, Walmart will buy a 60 percent stake in Flipkart, while Alphabet will get a roughly 15 percent stake in Flipkart.
It is believed that the deal will see Flipkart's valuation rise as much as 70 percent within a year. In fact, the Walmart and Flipkart deal will reportedly, give the world's largest brick-and-mortar retailer, access to an e-commerce market that Morgan Stanley estimated to be worth $200 billion in a decade's time. It is in fact, a smart strategy by Walmart to take on Amazon. Reports appeared a few days back which suggested that Amazon countered Walmart's bid to buy Flipkart.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 03:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).