Walmart Eyes Up To $20 Billion Stake In Flipkart, Amazon’s Top Rival In India
News article by Investor’s- Business daily: Walmart is in advanced talks to acquire up to 20% of India e-commerce giant Flipkart for as much as $20 billion, citing people familiar with the matter. That would make America’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer the top stakeholder in Flipkart, and position Walmart to take on Amazon.com and Alibaba in the world’s second most populous country.
Friday’s report follows recent headlines that Walmart was looking to acquire a minority stake in Flipkart. Reuters said the two retailers have been in on-and-off talks for the last two years.
Walmart shares fell 0.65% in the stock market today after finding resistance at its 50-day moving average. Amazon slid 0.8%. Alibaba rose 1.7%.
Just as Walmart is competing with Amazon in the U.S., so is Flipkart in a race to attract customers in India. Amazon and Flipkart both offered New Year’s discounts last month of up to 80%, according to the Economic Times. India still has a relatively small urban middle class while infrastructure often is poor and red tape high.
Stateside, competition is fierce. Amazon is reportedly working on a shipping service, and this week separately debuted two-hour delivery of Whole Foods groceries in four markets, with plans to expand to other cities this year.