Walmart Rushes Into India, Paying US$16b For Stake

Walmart is breaking into India's massive and growing consumer market, spending US$16 billion for a controlling stake in the online retailer Flipkart.

Online sales in India have exploded in recent years, totaling US$19.6 billion last year, according to a Forrester report. Those sales are expected to grow far larger in 2018. Both Walmart and Amazon have pushed hard to catch up to Flipkart and to be the first major U.S. retailer to establish a substantial foothold in the country.

Flipkart's supply chain arm, eKart, serves more than 800 cities and makes 500,000 deliveries daily. The International Monetary Fund has also projected that India's economy will grow 7.4 percent this year.

Walmart will own approximately 77 percent of Flipkart. Other stakeholders include Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management and Microsoft Corp.

"India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate, and our investment is an opportunity to partner with the company that is leading transformation of eCommerce in the market," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon in a company release. (AP)