Flipkart Acquires Walmart's Wholesale Business In India; Launches Flipkart Wholesale

Flipkart Group said it has launched Flipkart Wholesale aimed at transforming the kirana ecosystem in the country. For this, the e-commerce major has acquired 100% stake in Walmart India Pvt Ltd, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business.

Operations of Flipkart Wholesale will be launched in August this year with pilot services for the grocery and garment segment. The new service will be Adarsh Menon, a veteran at Flipkart. Sameer Aggarwal, who currently leads Walmart India will help in the transition before moving to a different role.

"With the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, we will now extend our capabilities across technology, logistics and finance to small businesses across the country. The acquisition of Walmart India adds a strong talent pool with deep expertise in the wholesale business that will strengthen our position to address the needs of kiranas and MSMEs uniquely," said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer of Flipkart Group.

Walmart India's employees will join the Flipkart Group and the home office teams will integrate over the next year.

The move comes days after Flipkart raised an additional $1.2 billion from a Walmart-led investor group, valuing the company at $24.9 billion.