Bharti Retail brings Walmart's Craig Wimsatt on board

Deciding to venture into the country’s multi-brand retail segment

on its own, after breaking ties with American retail giant Walmart, Bharti Enterprises has now roped in Walmart’s Craig Wimsatt on board. The move is said to be an attempt to woo global retail giants like Carrefour, who are on the lookout for a potential India partner. The speculation was supported after Bharti Retail recently showcased its distribution centre in Chandigarh to officials from Tesco and Carrefour.

Sources inform that Wimsatt joined the company earlier this month and will be second in command after Chief Executive Raj Jain. The 19-year Walmart veteran worked with the joint venture as Chief Operating Officer before the companies decided to split. However, the company insists that he has joined as an advisor.

Post the formal split, Walmart took over Bharti’s stake in the 50:50 wholesale joint venture that was formed six years back. As a part of the joint venture, Bharti had cash-and-carry stores under the ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’ brand. Now the retail entity will become a 100 percent subsidiary of the American retail giant. On the other hand, Bharti acquired the Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCDs) held by Wal-Mart in Cedar Support Services, a company owned and controlled by Bharti that operates front-end retail stores under the brand name ‘Easy Day’.