Walmart acquires lucrative Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart shares from early investors

Wall Street Journal cited a letter by Tiger Global to its investors, saying the US retail giant paid $1.4 billion to the hedge fund company.

The transaction values Flipkart at $35 billion, down from $38 billion in 2021.

Later, MoneyControl reported, citing unnamed sources, that Bansal and Accel, one of the company’s earliest investors, have also exited fully.

Accel held more than 20 percent in Flipkart initially when they were among the first to back the company in 2008, sold out a large percentage in 2018 to Walmart, and currently held 1.1 percent of shares, according to Tracxn, a private markets data provider. Tiger Global held about 4 percent of the company, and Bansal held a small share after selling a majority of his stake to Walmart already.

The Tiger Global transaction, without revealing the exact financials, was confirmed by a Walmart spokesperson via an email to Reuters.

“We value Tiger Global’s involvement and support over the last several years. We remain confident in the future of Flipkart and are even more positive about the opportunity in India today than when we first invested,” said the statement.

“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.”

Walmart’s $16 billion Flipkart acquisition

Walmart had acquired a majority stake of 77 percent in Flipkart for about $16 billion in 2018, and had said it could take the company public in four years.

Flipkart was started in 2007 when it only sold books online and operated out of an apartment in Bengaluru. It raised $800,000 from Accel in 2008. Tiger Global became an investor in 2010 and later, in 2015 it cumulatively invested around $1.2 billion in the e-commerce company.