Walmart Inc has agreed to pay $16 billion for a roughly 77 percent stake in Indian online shopping site Flipkart, the U.S. retailer's biggest foreign investment as it battles rival Amazon.com Inc in one of the world's biggest emerging markets.

The deal, capping almost two years of talks, will help the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer fortify and boost market share against Amazon.com, which reportedly had tried to make a competing offer for a stake.

"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 e-commerce in the market," Doug McMillon, Walmart's Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Buying a stake in Flipkart, which sells everything from soaps to smartphones and from books to clothes, gives Walmart access to the fledgling Indian e-commerce market that could potentially be worth $200 billion in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley.

Walmart said it plans to fund the deal through a combination of newly-issued debt and cash on hand.

Walmart warned that it expects the deal to hit its fiscal 2019 earnings per share by 25 cents to 30 cents, if the deal closes as expected before the end of the second quarter.

The remainder of the business will be held by some of Flipkart's existing shareholders, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, China's Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tiger Global Management LLC and Microsoft Corp, the company said.

Earlier on Wednesday, SoftBank Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son unexpectedly spilled the beans on the deal by confirming on a conference call that Walmart had decided to purchase Flipkart, ahead of the highly-anticipated official announcement.

Son said his firm's investment in the Indian online retailer had grown to $4 billion. SoftBank's Vision Fund, the world's biggest private equity fund, had invested $2.5 billion in Flipkart last August.

Sources have previously told Reuters that SoftBank would sell all its shares in Flipkart to Walmart.&nbsp 
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The deal, capping almost two years of talks, will help the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer fortify and boost market share against Amazon.com, which reportedly had tried to make a competing offer for a stake

Walmart Inc has agreed to pay $16 billion for a roughly 77 percent stake in Indian online shopping site Flipkart, the U.S. retailer's biggest foreign investment as it battles rival Amazon.com Inc in one of the world's biggest emerging markets. The deal, capping almost two years of talks, will help the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer fortify and boost market share against Amazon.com, which reportedly had tried to make a competing offer for a stake. "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 e-commerce in the market," Doug McMillon, Walmart's Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement on Wednesday. Buying a stake in Flipkart, which sells everything from soaps to smartphones and from books to clothes, gives Walmart access to the fledgling Indian e-commerce market that could potentially be worth $200 billion in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley. Walmart said it plans to fund the deal through a combination of newly-issued debt and cash on hand. Walmart warned that it expects the deal to hit its fiscal 2019 earnings per share by 25 cents to 30 cents, if the deal closes as expected before the end of the second quarter. The remainder of the business will be held by some of Flipkart's existing shareholders, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, China's Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tiger Global Management LLC and Microsoft Corp, the company said. Earlier on Wednesday, SoftBank Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son unexpectedly spilled the beans on the deal by confirming on a conference call that Walmart had decided to purchase Flipkart, ahead of the highly-anticipated official announcement. Son said his firm's investment in the Indian online retailer had grown to $4 billion. SoftBank's Vision Fund, the world's biggest private equity fund, had invested $2.5 billion in Flipkart last August. Sources have previously told Reuters that SoftBank would sell all its shares in Flipkart to Walmart.

Walmart buying 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion

Walmart Inc could seal a deal to buy a more than 51% stake in Indian online marketplace Flipkart as early as next week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.&nbsp;

The US retail giant has been in talks with Flipkart for months to acquire controlling stake as it looks to take on rival Amazon.com Inc head-on in India, a market where e-commerce is tipped to grow to $200 billion in a decade.&nbsp;

SoftBank Group, which owns about a fifth of Flipkart through its Vision Fund, was unwilling to sell a part of its stake as Walmart was offering to buy existing shares at a valuation of $12 billion, a price the Japanese tech investor considered low, it was reported.&nbsp;

But that stalemate between SoftBank and Walmart has ended, one of the sources said on Friday. It was not immediately clear though, whether SoftBank had agreed to sell some shares in Flipkart.&nbsp;

Walmart's purchase of new equity is likely to value Flipkart at least $18 billion.&nbsp;

It was earlier reported that Walmart completed due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51% or more for between $10 billion to $12billion.&nbsp;

A third source said a deal was close, but things could still drag into the first week of May.&nbsp;

Some of Flipkart's main investors - US hedge fund Tiger Global Management, South African tech investor Naspers and venture capital firm Accel - are likely to take a full exit as Walmart purchases their shares, as per sources.&nbsp;

Sachin and Binny Bansal, former Amazon employees who founded Flipkart in 2007 in India's tech hub of Bengaluru, are also likely to part sell their stake as part of the deal, one of the sources said.&nbsp;

All sources declined to be named as the talks are not public. Flipkart, SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while a representative for Walmart in India declined to comment.

Walmart has been in talks with Flipkart for months to acquire a controlling stake in the firm as it looks to take on rival Amazon.com Inc head-on in India.

Walmart Inc could seal a deal to buy a more than 51% stake in Indian online marketplace Flipkart as early as next week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The US retail giant has been in talks with Flipkart for months to acquire controlling stake as it looks to take on rival Amazon.com Inc head-on in India, a market where e-commerce is tipped to grow to $200 billion in a decade. SoftBank Group, which owns about a fifth of Flipkart through its Vision Fund, was unwilling to sell a part of its stake as Walmart was offering to buy existing shares at a valuation of $12 billion, a price the Japanese tech investor considered low, it was reported. But that stalemate between SoftBank and Walmart has ended, one of the sources said on Friday. It was not immediately clear though, whether SoftBank had agreed to sell some shares in Flipkart. Walmart's purchase of new equity is likely to value Flipkart at least $18 billion. It was earlier reported that Walmart completed due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51% or more for between $10 billion to $12billion. A third source said a deal was close, but things could still drag into the first week of May. Some of Flipkart's main investors - US hedge fund Tiger Global Management, South African tech investor Naspers and venture capital firm Accel - are likely to take a full exit as Walmart purchases their shares, as per sources. Sachin and Binny Bansal, former Amazon employees who founded Flipkart in 2007 in India's tech hub of Bengaluru, are also likely to part sell their stake as part of the deal, one of the sources said. All sources declined to be named as the talks are not public. Flipkart, SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while a representative for Walmart in India declined to comment.

Walmart could buy controlling stake in Flipkart by next week

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