Walmart Buys Tiger Global's Stake In Flipkart For $1.4 Billion: Report

Leading US hypermarkets chain operator, Walmart has reportedly purchased investment firm, Tiger Global's stake in Flipkart. Wall Street Journal reported about the deal first on Sunday, quoting a letter by the hedge fund to its investors. It needs to be noted that talks of Tiger Global looking to exit the Indian e-commerce giant have been going around since early 2023.

According to the WSJ report, Walmart purchased Tiger Global's investment in Flipkart for $1.4 billion. This latest deal has taken the value of Flipkart to a whopping $35 billion -- compared to a nearly $38 billion valuation after a stake sale to Japan's SoftBank, Walmart and other investors in 2021.

All three parties Walmart, Flipkart, and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments on the development.

In January, the Economic Times reported that investors like Accel and Tiger Global may exit Flipkart for a $1.5 billion share sale. According to its report, Tiger Global held around 4% of the e-commerce player.

Walmart bought a majority stake of 77% in Flipkart in May 2018, for approximately $16 billion --- making it one of the biggest mergers and acquisitions in India at that time. Although the immediate focus was to serve customers and grow the business, Walmart also supports Flipkart's ambition to transition into a publicly-listed, majority-owned subsidiary in the future.

Founded in 2007, Flipkart has led India's eCommerce revolution. The company has grown rapidly and earned customer trust, leveraging a powerful technology foundation, including artificial intelligence, and emerging as a leader in electronics, large appliances, mobile fashion and apparel.

Last week, Flipkart announced that it has enhanced its efforts towards fostering a more inclusive seller ecosystem with enhanced seller-focused policies aimed at strengthening MSME growth across the country. These policies under the 'Flipkart EDGE' initiative build upon the foundation laid in 2022.

The program strongly focuses on helping businesses leverage the opportunity of online business and enhancing the ease of doing business on the Flipkart platform. With the implementation of these policies, the online seller ecosystem embarks on its next phase of growth by leveraging the immense potential offered by e-commerce.