US-based retail giant Walmart plans to invest up to $2.5 billion in India’s ecommerce and digital payments ecosystems through its subsidiaries Flipkart and PhonePe.
Walmart owns a majority stake in both decacorns, having acquired Flipkart in 2018 and PhonePe through Flipkart later that year. The majority of the $2.5 billion is expected to come from a proposed share sale in which venture capital (VC) firms Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management exit Flipkart. The two venture capital firms were early investors in the $33 billion ecommerce startup and collectively own 5% of Flipkart. Walmart is currently in talks with Accel and Tiger Global to buy their shares for around $1.5 billion, valuing Flipkart at $30 billion. If the transaction goes through, Walmart’s stake in Flipkart will increase to 72%.
