BENTONVILLE (dpa-AFX) - Walmart Inc. (WMT) is close to finalizing a deal to buy a majority stake in India's leading e-commerce company for at least $12 billion and may complete the agreement in the next two weeks, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter.
All the major investors in Flipkart Online Services Pvt are now on board with the Walmart purchase, after an earlier debate over an Amazon.com Inc. acquisition, the reports said. Tiger Global Management will sell nearly all its 20 percent stake in Flipkart, while SoftBank Group Corp. will offload a substantial part of its 20 percent-plus holding. Walmart will likely end up with 60 percent to 80 percent of Flipkart, valued at about $20 billion, the report said.
Among the issues still to be resolved are whether Flipkart's founders will lead the business after the purchase, how much each existing investor sells and what Walmart's final stake will be. It's also possible that terms will change or the talks will fall apart.
The reports said that Flipkart's board had seriously considered Walmart and Amazon as potential partners, but ultimately decided Walmart could close a deal more easily. Walmart likely faces fewer regulatory hurdles because it has no online retail presence in the country now, while Amazon is the second-largest e-commerce player and Flipkart's primary rival.
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