Walmart Considers Indian E-Commerce Purchase

Walmart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) is discussing purchasing upwards of 40 percent of Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce brand. The move would be a major blow to Amazon.com Inc.'s (Seattle) potential in Asia.

If the deal goes through, it would position Walmart to take on Amazon by giving it access to India’s rapidly growing e-commerce market, according to Reuters, which Morgan Stanley (New York) estimates will grow to $200 billion within a decade.

Flipkart runs roughly 40 percent of India’s e-commerce, and it owns apparel sites Myntra and Jabong. Walmart currently operates 21 stores in India, but it has been confined to “cash-and-carry” wholesale due to restrictions on foreign investment.