Walmart Inc has acquired 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for about USD 16 billion in its biggest acquisition till date. The deal values the 11-year old Indian e-commerce firm at USD 20.8 billion.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart will acquire about 77 per cent stake in Flipkart, Walmart said in a statement.
Sachin Bansal, who had co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal in 2007, would exit the company after the deal.
Sachin and Binny, who are not related and formerly worked for Amazon.com Inc, like their US rival began by selling books when they founded Flipkart.
This is also Walmart's biggest acquisition which will help it compete with its US-based rival Amazon.
Industry body ASSOCHAM sees the Walmart-Flipkart deal as a salute to the success of the Indian start-up that pioneered the fledgling online retailing in a country where bulk of the trade is in the unorganised sector.
"Isn' it so great that a start-up goes on to fetch an enterprise valuation of about USD 21 billion, making the Walmart equity infusion the largest ever FDI into India", ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat told PTI.
"Despite several teething troubles, hats off to Indian entrepreneurs, especially those of the 'First Generation'. For them, it is no-holds barred. Great spirit of enterprise," he said.