Even as Walmart is in final stages to pick-up stakes in e-commerce company Flipkart, rival Amazon may make a late bid to buy the company. According to LiveMint, Amazon has made 'exploratory talks' about buying Flipkart. Apart from these two companies, Google also has made overtures towards acquiring Flipkart according to the report.
Walmart Inc is in talks to purchase a stake of more than 40 percent in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, according to Reuters. ET earlier has reported, Walmart is looking to eventually buy 51% of the shares in Flipkart. The major Indian e-commerce player is likely to be valued at over $20 billion.
For Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart, a deal would open a new front in its efforts to take on Amazon, giving the world's largest brick-and-mortar retailer access to an e-commerce market that Morgan Stanley has estimated will rapidly grow to be worth $200 billion in a decade. It would be part of a huge e-commerce push that has seen Walmart acquire a slew of start-ups including paying roughly $3 billion for online retailer Jet.com. Last month it also said it was partnering with Japan's Rakuten Inc in online grocery deliveries.
"As large as they are, Amazon has eaten away a significant chunk of their revenues and I think... they view India as the largest market possibly for this (taking on Amazon)," one of the sources said. Walmart has for years tried to enter India but has remained confined to a 'cash-and-carry' wholesale business amid tough restrictions on foreign investment. It currently operates 21 such stores in India.
With Reuters inputs
