Indian unicorn Flipkart's board approves $15 billion deal with Walmart

• Walmart likely to purchase 75% stake in Flipkart, making it the largest acquisition deal for the company.
  
• Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company may also be looking to invest in Flipkart.
• Sachin Bansal, Flipkart co-founder, might be stepping down.

Update: Flipkart's board has reportedly approved a deal for Walmart to acquire 75% of the Indian e-commerce company.

The Walmart-Flipkart drama deal is reportedly finalised. The American company has apparently agreed to purchase a 73% stake in the Indian online shopping portal, taking Flipkart’s valuation to somewhere between $20-22 billion. This means the American giant will be spending at least $14.6 billion in the cash-and-stock buyout.

Both the companies have signed tentative agreements on May 3, 2018, and the deal will apparently involve a mixture of cash and stock, with the cash component amounting to around 55%.

Event Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, might a part of this agreement by way of a $3 billion investment.

But there’s more to this merger than just the two company’s coming together. While Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue as Flipkart’s CEO, the company’s founder, Sachin Bansal will probably be stepping down.

Not only will he be leaving the company’s day-to-day activities, he will also be giving up his seat on the board of directors. Co-founder, Binny Bansal, will probably remain after the merger since reports have indicated that Walmart is keen on keeping one of them.

The Walmart-Flipkart deal has ruffled a lot of feathers but despite the turn out, the company’s biggest investor, SoftBank, will be leaving the foray. They weren’t particularly amped about the deal when it was being initiated and now that it seems to be final, SoftBank plans on selling off its 25% stake in the company to earn nearly $5 billion. Essentially, SoftBank’s doubled their investment of $2.5 billion in less than a year.

Flipkart’s other investors, like Tencent, Microsoft and Tiger Global aren’t looking to cash out just yet.

The conclusion of this deal will ideally result in one of the largest acquisitions involving an Indian company. It will also be one the biggest acquisition deals by Walmart.