US-based retail giant Walmart has infused $1.2 billion in Flipkart‘s commerce business valuing it at $24.9 billion, as the Indian online retail battle gets redrawn with Reliance Jio‘s plans to leverage its telecom reach to propel online commerce.
The capital from Walmart, which already owns around 80% in the Bengaluru-based online retailer, will take its shareholding up a percentage or so, said people in the know.
This is the largest such fund raise for Flipkart since it was acquired two years ago for $16 billion, valuing the etailer at $21 billion.
In a prepared statement, Flipkart said, “The investment is led by Walmart, Flipkart Group’s majority owner, along with a group of existing shareholders and values the company at $24.9 billion post-money. It will be funded in two tranches over the remainder of the fiscal year.”
The backing of Walmart comes at a time when Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms has amassed $15 billion from myriad investors including Facebook and private equity biggies like Silver Lake and KKR. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Google was in talks to plough around $4 billion into Jio Platforms.
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