By Jacqueline Corba
The Indian e-commerce company Flipkart accepted a $15 billion bid from a group led by Walmart, striking a blow to Amazon's online supremacy in India, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
Flipkart's board of directors approved the transaction just days after Amazon made its own offer, The Wall Street Journal's Sarah Nassauer said in an interview Friday with Cheddar. The deal, Walmart's biggest in nearly two decades, would give the retail giant a 75 percent stake in Flipkart.
"Amazon has publicly said they want to make a go of it in India, so I'm sure that's playing into their thinking," Nassauer said, adding that there are still a lot of "ifs."
India is expected to drive 30 percent of Amazon's revenue growth over the next three years, according to a recent Morgan Stanley analyst report. And the Indian e-commerce market is expected to be worth $200 billion by 2026, with Walmart and Amazon eager to capture as much of that business as possible. Flipkart ー started by two former Amazon employees in 2007 ー was Walmart's way in, said Nassauer.
"This sets them both up to be in direct competition there and give it a real try," she said.
Shares of Walmart closed up 1.5 percent on Friday.
For full interview, click here.