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Journalism of Courage
World’s largest retailer Walmart is said to be in advanced discussions to invest USD 1 billion for a minority stake in e-commerce major Flipkart, a move aimed at taking on their common rival Amazon in India.
Walmart and Flipkart are in discussions for forging an alliance, sources close to the development said. Walmart in an emailed statement said: “As a policy, we do not comment on speculative reports.” Flipkart spokesperson said: “It is our policy not to comment on rumours or speculations.”
In June, Walmart had acquired 5 per cent stake in JD.com, China’s second-largest ecommerce marketplace for about USD 1.5 billion. Like India, China is also witnessing a strong growth in the e-commerce sector.
According to market watchers, the Flipkart-Walmart tie-up will help the companies compete strongly against US-based Amazon.
Amazon has committed about USD 5 billion towards its Indian business and is aggressively ramping up its supply and delivery operations.
Walmart had earlier established a retail joint venture in India with Bharti Group. However, Walmart eventually sold its stake to the partner.
While a deal with Walmart would give Flipkart additional capital to fight back, the US-based company would get wider access to India’s booming e-commerce market and be able to challenge Amazon, like it does in their home market.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing online commerce markets with reports pegging the potential to reach USD 30 billion by 2020.
