In biggest ecommerce deal in the world, Walmart buys Flipkart for $16 bn

Walmart, which failed to make an entry in India in offline retail space, can now sell its products online to 1.3 billion population of the country.

Representational Image: Photo: Reuters

The largest retailer in the US, Walmart has acquired India’s most biggest e-retailer Flipkart on Wednesday for a behemoth $16 billion, making it the world’s largest e-commerce deal. Walmart has acquired 77% stake in Bengaluru-based online shopping portal for a valuation of around $21 billion.

Walmart, which failed to make an entry in India in offline retail space with any kind of success, can now sell its products online to 1.3 billion population of the country. Post the acquisition, Walmart is expected to expand its online retail business here.

The deal will also see some of the biggest investors in Flipkart offloading their stakes, including Softbank, in the country's largest e-commerce company.

Walmart will purchase stakes of Flipkart’s investors like Tiger Global Management and Softbank. Also Sachin Bansal who is a co-founder and CEO of Flipkart, will exit by selling entire 5.5% stake to Walmart.

The Flipkart and Walmart deal is also largest FDI deal in India.

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