Mumbai: Moving closer to its deal with Walmart, e-commerce major Flipkart has bought back over 1.8 million shares worth more than USD 350 million from minority investors, as per information filed by Flipkart with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.
The filing, which was sourced by data platform Paper.vc, claimed that the move will also help Flipkart convert itself into a private company under Singapore law and values the Bengaluru-based firm at a whopping USD 17.69 billion.
The development assumes significance as US retail giant Walmart is close to sealing its deal to acquire majority stake in Flipkart. If completed, this would be one of the largest deals in the Indian retail sector and by far, the biggest in the country’s booming e-commerce market.
There is also buzz that Flipkart rival, Amazon, has made a formal bid, priced slightly higher than Walmart along with a breakup fee of USD 2 billion, to buy majority stake in the Indian e-commerce company founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.