Amazon offers to buy 60 per cent stake in India's Flipkart: source
Flipkart's investors and founders are in favor of the deal with Walmart.
Amazon.com Inc has made a formal offer to buy a 60 per cent stake in Indian online retailer Flipkart, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Amazon also offered Flipkart a breakup fee of USD 2 billion, the TV channel reported. Amazon’s bid is likely to be on par with Walmart Inc’s bid for the Indian e-commerce company, CNBC-TV18 reported.
Flipkart’s investors and founders are in favor of the deal with Walmart, with founder Sachin Bansal overseeing final negotiations with Walmart, CNBC-TV18 said.
Amazon is also seeking a non-compete agreement with Flipkart’s founders, the report added. Reuters in April reported that Walmart was likely to reach a deal to buy a majority stake in Flipkart by the end of June.
A deal with Flipkart would step up the Walmart-Amazon battle for a bigger share of India’s fledgling e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley estimates will be worth USD 200 billion in a decade.
The Walmart global team may come to India soon to close the deal, the report added. A spokesman for Walmart declined to comment, while Amazon said it does not offer comments on rumours and speculation. Flipkart did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.