Flipkart in talks with Wal-Mart to raise up to US$1B to check Amazon’s dream run in India

Flipkart will get the much-needed capital, while the retail giant will gain from the e-commerce firm’s exposure to India’s large e-commerce market

With the entry of multiple conglomerates, India’s e-commerce space has been pushed into a tangled web. From China’s Alibaba to Japan’s SoftBank and Mitsui to South Africa’s Naspers, almost every global MNC has a significant business interest in India.

While boosting the e-commerce industry, it has complicated things for home-grown leaders like Snapdeal and Flipkart, with the former ceding significant market share to global giant Amazon, bringing it closer to Flipkart.

Flipkart is no more the undisputed leader. While it still is the numero uno, the threat from Amazon is growing. It stands to lose the game to the US e-commerce giant anytime in the near future. VCs are also exerting pressure on Flipkart to deliver, whereas Amazon is not in a hurry and has a long-term goal in India.

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So, the Indian company is leaving no stones unturned and is in pursuit of partnership with more global leaders. It seems this pursuit has paid off. As per a Bloomberg report, Flipkart is in advanced talks with global retailing giant Wal-Mart to secure up to US$1 billion in funding for a minority stake.

Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said that the final terms of the deal have not been worked out and negotiations are still underway.

As per this report, both Wal-Mart and Flipkart will benefit from this deal. While the Indian company will get the much-needed capital in a bleak investment environment, the retail giant will gain from Flipkart’s exposure to India’s expanding e-commerce market.

Started in 2008 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Flipkart is the oldest player in the e-commerce market in India. It has raised over US$3 billion so far from investors including Tiger Global, DST Global, Naspers, Accel, Sofina, Qatar Investment Authority and Morgan Stanley.

In 2014, the company acquired fashion e-tailer Myntra for US$300 million.

Recently, Morgan Stanley marked down Flipkart’s valuation.

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