Walmart in discussions over the purchase of a 40% stake in Flipkart

US retail giant Walmart is reportedly in talks to purchase a stake of over 40% in Flipkart, a leading Asian ecommerce platform, in the aim of challenging Amazon within India.

Amazon has turned significant attention towards India in recent times as Asia’s third biggest ecommerce market, most recently having made its echo devices available to all of its customers across the country.

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The news of Walmart’s potential investment comes from Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter, stating that terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

However, it is believed that if the talks come to fruition then it will be one of Walmart’s largest international deals, with Flipkart being valued at over $12bn following a $2.5bn investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund for approximately a 20% stake in the company last year.

The deal would be a significant statement from Walmart in pursuing its strategy of moving more readily into ecommerce, with the retailer having also acquired Jet.com for $3bn last month.