Walmart’s Flipkart will buy a 7.8 percent stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd for Rs. 1,500 crores, the fashion retail company said, sending its shares up 6 percent on Friday.
The investment comes at a time when Amazon, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance, and Flipkart are in a race to gain market share in India’s fast-growing online market for food and groceries.
“Fashion retail in India is set for robust long-term growth due to strong fundamentals of a large and growing middle class… Rapid growth of technology infrastructure will further accelerate this process,” Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping most people indoors, Indians are turning to online platforms for all purchases from bread to phones to clothes.
Earlier reports had said both Amazon and Flipkart were in the race to pick a stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, that owns and operates the Pantaloons retail chain and owns rights to sell Forever 21 merchandise in India.
Aditya Birla said it would use the money to strengthen its balance sheet as it scales up its businesses.
Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail surged as much as 6.5 percent to Rs. 163.45, their highest since March 30.
Flipkart kicked off its Dussehra Specials sale yesterday, October 22. Slated to go on till October 28, the sale offers great deals on smartphones with no-cost EMI options, exchange discounts, and complete mobile protection. Phones like Realme C3, iPhone SE (2020), iPhone 11 Pro, and Redmi 8A Dual are listed with price cuts.
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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