In a strategic move to expand its presence in India’s thriving consumer market, American multinational retail corporation Walmart has announced an additional investment of $1.4 billion in Flipkart, a prominent Indian retailer.
Walmart had initially acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018. This recent investment of $1.4 billion was directed towards purchasing the remaining stake from Tiger Global Management to better consolidate Walmart’s position in the company.
As a result of this transaction, Flipkart’s latest valuation stands at $35 billion, slightly lower than its previous valuation of nearly $38 billion during its 2021 funding round.
Tiger Global Management, a fund management company, first invested $8.6 million in Flipkart back in 2009 during the company’s Series B round when its valuation was $42 million.
Over the years, Tiger Global continued to expand its investment in Flipkart, injecting a total of $1.2 billion between 2010 and 2015, according to the statement issued by the company.
During the course of its investment journey, Tiger Global made strategic moves, selling a portion of its Flipkart stake to SoftBank Group Corp in 2017, and subsequently divesting more to Walmart a year later.
Overall, these investments have yielded impressive gains, amounting to $3.5 billion, as reported by the money manager in the aforementioned letter. Additional distribution details are expected to be released in the coming weeks.