Walmart on Monday confirmed that it has acquired additional shares of Flipkart from Tiger Global.
Although the company declined to share further financial details with Retail Dive, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Walmart paid $1.4 billion for a larger stake in the India-based e-commerce company.
“We value Tiger Global’s involvement and support over the last several years,” a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Retail Dive. “We remain confident in the future of Flipkart and are even more positive about the opportunity in India today than when we first invested. We continue to be impressed with Flipkart’s progress and remain focused on building a healthy, sustainable and profitable business for the long term, ensuring Flipkart continues to grow in an emerging and dynamic market.”
In 2018, Walmart became Flipkart’s largest shareholder when it paid $16 billion for an initial 77% stake in the e-retailer.
The transaction values Flipkart at about $35 billion, according to Wall Street Journal and Economic Times reports. That’s down from nearly $38 billion in 2021, when Flipkart sold its shares to Japan-based SoftBank, Walmart and other investors. New York-based Tiger Global and Flipkart did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Flipkart, along with Walmart’s Mexico and China businesses all saw double-digital top-line growth, in the first quarter, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said during the company’s most recent earnings call, according to an earnings call transcript.
On the earnings call, Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International, described India as “our most mature marketplace.” That stands in contrast to the company’s marketplaces in Mexico and Canada which are both “quite nascent in their development and provide a lot of opportunity for the future.”
