Walmart Inc.'s acquisition of Flipkart Online Services Pvt. values India's largest online retailer at $20.8 billion.
That's equal to the combined market capitalisation of the top four offline retailers listed in India. The comparison doesn't include Reliance Industries Ltd.'s unlisted retail subsidiary, the largest in India by revenue.
The world's biggest deal in the e-commerce space is a sign of how aggressively brick-and-mortar players are looking at the online market to fuel growth in Asia's third largest economy. India's e-commerce market is expected to grow to $200 billion within the next decade from nearly $30 billion now, according to Morgan Stanley.
“Clearly the deal is at a premium,” Gopal Jain, managing partner at Gaja Capital told BloombergQuint. “But when you look at the addressable market in India you could justify any valuation.”
(Corrects an earlier version that said Flipkart will be more valuable than top four offline retailers combined.)
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
