Investing.com -- Retail giant Walmart (NYSE:WMT) has further cemented its interest in Flipkart through a $1.4 billion purchase of shares from a major investor in the Indian e-commerce group, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Walmart bought New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global's remaining shares in Flipkart, the paper reported, citing a letter sent by Tiger to its investors. The transaction valued Flipkart at $35B, down from the almost $38B attached by Tiger to the company in 2021.
Meanwhile, Walmart also bought out private equity firm Accel's remaining 1% stake in Flipkart, the Economic Times newspaper reported, although the size of the purchase was unknown.
The moves boost Walmart's exposure to Flipkart at a time when the Arkansas-based company is looking to expand its presence in global digital commerce. Walmart paid $16B more than five years ago for an initial 77% stake in Flipkart, a wide-ranging business catering to more than 450 million customers.
A Walmart spokesperson told Reuters Monday that shares in Flipkart were bought from Tiger Global and some other investors, but declined to give more details. Tiger and Accel did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.