Walmart close to buying Flipkart for $15 billion, Sachin Bansal may quit after deal

In what will be one of the biggest acquisitions in India, Flipkart may soon be acquired by Walmart Inc. as per latest reports. The deal, which will see the US retail giant buy 75 per cent of the Indian e-commerce company, was finally sealed on Thursday following months of negotiations. The deal may also see Flipkart founder and Executive Chairman Sachin Bansal exit the Bengaluru-based company, but nothing is clear on that matter as of now.

Update: Flipkart's board has approved an agreement to sell 75 per cent of the company to Walmart for $15 billion, Bloomberg reports according to people familiar with the matter. As per the proposed deal, SoftBank will sell its 20-plus stake that it holds in Flipkart. Google's parent company Alphabet is also said to participate in the investment with Walmart and the deal is expected to be closed in 10 days.

Some people familiar with the ongoing negotiations say that Walmart is looking to keep co-founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, and CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in their roles after the acquisition goes through. As of now, reports suggest Sachin will be leaving once the deal goes through. Binny and Krishnamurthy have backed the deal with Walmart and the two are seen leading the final negotiations, which will likely result in a share purchase agreement by Walmart by early next week, a person told TOI.