Walmart flipkart 16 billion $$ deal | inside story

Walmart acquires Flipkart for $16 billion in world’s largest ecommerce deal

Its official! Walmart buys Flipkart in world's largest ecommerce deal

BENGALURU | NEW DELHI: US retail giant Walmart Inc will pick up a 77% stake in India’s largest online retailer Flipkart for $16 billion, successfully concluding more than 20 months of talks, in what will be the country’s largest acquisition and the world’s biggest purchase of an ecommerce company. It will include $2 billion of fresh investment as Walmart looks to take on rival Amazon’s global expansion, pegging the value of Flipkart at $22 billion.

The transaction will result in the largest exit for private equity and venture capital investors in India — they’re expected to collectively make about $14 billion by selling shares to Walmart. The transaction puts it ahead of the $14.6-billion Bharti-Indus Towers merger and the $12.9-billion Essar Oil-Rosneft transaction. Only the Vodafone-Idea merger was valued higher at $23 billion.

 Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal exits while the other cofounder Binny Bansal remains invested.

The early US market response didn’t seem too positive with Walmart dropping 4% as it lost $10 billion in market capitalisation to $242 billion. Amazon was up marginally by 0.3%, putting its market capitalisation at $779 billion. 

Walmart plans to use Flipkart’s expertise to expand globally and assured employees that its startup ethos will be nurtured and strengthened. “We hope we learn from you how to build an ecosystem, more about innovation and payments — we will help with sourcing, supply chain expertise,” Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon told Flipkart empl

Walmart acquires Flipkart for $16 billion in world’s largest ecommerce deal

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• Walmart Inc will pick up a 77% stake in India’s largest online retailer Flipkart for $16 billion, successfully concluding more than 20 months of talks, in what will be the country’s largest acquisition and the world’s biggest purchase of an ecommerce company. It will include $2 billion of fresh investment as Walmart looks to take on rival Amazon’s global expansion, pegging the value of Flipkart at $22 billion.Its official! Walmart buys Flipkart in world's largest ecommerce deal

The transaction will result in the largest exit for private equity and venture capital investors in India — they’re expected to collectively make about $14 billion by selling shares to Walmart. The transaction puts it ahead of the $14.6-billion Bharti-Indus Towers merger and the $12.9-billion Essar Oil-Rosneft transaction. Only the Vodafone-Idea merger was valued higher at $23 billion. Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal exits while the other cofounder Binny Bansal remains invested.

The early US market response didn’t seem too positive with Walmart dropping 4% as it lost $10 billion in market capitalisation to $242 billion. Amazon was up marginally by 0.3%, putting its market capitalisation at $779 billion. Walmart plans to use Flipkart’s expertise to expand globally and assured employees that its startup ethos will be nurtured and strengthened. “We hope we learn from you how to build an ecosystem, more about innovation and payments — we will help with sourcing, supply chain expertise,” Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon told Flipkart employees.

Flipkart Brand to Remain Distinct

“It is our intention to just empower you and let you run — speed matters, decisiveness matters,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told Flipkart employees in a town hall meeting.

The Flipkart brand will remain distinct from that of Walmart, the companies said in a press release. Discussions between the two sides began in September 2016 with Walmart initially looking to pick up a minority stake. The nature of the talks shifted toward acquisition earlier this year, a direction that was championed by Greg Penner, chairman of the Walmart board and grandson-inlaw of founder Sam Walton, said people with knowledge of the matter.