Hong Kong/Mumbai — Naspers could raise nearly R4bn by selling its 16.6% stake in Indian e-commerce player Flipkart to Walmart. Reuters reported last week that Walmart completed its due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51% or more of the Indian company for between $10bn and $12bn. Walmart is negotiating with Flipkart’s early investors Naspers, Tiger Global and Accel, and the deal may be concluded by the end of June, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A deal with Flipkart would step up Walmart’s battle with Amazon.com for a bigger share of India’s fledgling e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley estimates will be worth $200bn in a decade. Local media have reported that Amazon is exploring a possible counter offer for Flipkart. Both sources declined to be named as the talks are private. Walmart would buy both new and existing Flipkart shares, with the new shares expected to value the Bengaluru-based firm at at least $18bn, the sources said...
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