Walmart (WMT) is close to finalizing a deal to buy a majority stake in India’s leading e-commerce company, Flipkart, according to Bloomberg.
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People familiar with the matter expect an agreement for at least $12 billion to be reached in the next two weeks.
Expectations for a deal come as people, who spoke on the promise for anonymity, said that all the major investors in Flipkart are now on board with the Walmart purchase following a previous debate over an Amazon acquisition.
Reportedly, Tiger Global Management will sell nearly all its 20% stake in Flipkart, while Softbank will dispose of a majority of its 20%-plus position, giving Walmart ownership of 60% to 80% of Flipkart.
If the deal goes through, it will give Walmart a leg up in accessing India’s 1.3 billion people.
Flipkart’s board had seriously considered both Walmart and Amazon as partners, but ended up choosing Walmart because they thought it would face fewer regulatory hurdles.
