Walmart closes in on Flipkart deal

Walmart has edged closer to a 1.5 million dollar deal with Flipkart, India's leading e-commerce company, for 12 billion dollars. Business of Fashion has reported that the deal could be finalized within two weeks.

Flipkart's major investors are all on board to sell to Walmart after debate over whether they should sell to the latter or Amazon Inc. Tiger Global Management will sell most of its 20 percent stake, while SoftBank Group Corp. will sell a large part of its 20 percent-plus holding. Walmart will likely end up with 60 percent to 80 percent of Flipkart, valued around 20 billion dollars.

It's not all smooth sailing though. The exact amount each investor sells and Walmarts final stake need to be finalized. It's still possible for the talks to fall through, in which case, Walmart would walk away empty handed.

If the deal goes through, Walmart will be able to target a market of 1.3 billion people. This would also give Walmart an edge against their main competitor, Amazon. India is a major market for companies looking to expand the U.S. and China and compete with China's Alibaba Holding Group Ltd.

Walmart won out over Amazon because they looked to be able to close a deal faster. Flipkart is considered the most valuable start-up in India worth 12 billion dollars. The 20 billion dollar price tag of the deal would be higher thank Flipkart's valuation and make it the most expensive e-commerce deal in India's history.