Amazon rivals Walmart with offer to buy majority stake in Flipkart
Amazon has formally offered to buy the majority stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, CNBC revealed on Wednesday.
The US e-commerce giant has its eye on a 60% stake in the company, which counters a previous bid by US retailer Walmart and stop it from becoming the majority shareholder in the Indian business. The offer by Amazon was revealed days after report that Walmart was prepared to close the deal.
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Walmart is hoping to expand its online offering as well as breaking into the Indian retail market. The company was hoping to take an 80% stake in Flipkart and has been in talks for over a year about the offer.
Flipkart was launched in 2007 and is the biggest online retailer in India. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it sells a diverse range of products such as electronics, books, beauty products and furniture.
The BBC has reported that according to the India Brand Equity Foundation states India’s e-commerce industry is expected to reach $200bn by 2026. It is currently worth $38.5bn.
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