Walmart Beats Amazon in $15 Billion Flipkart Battle

The board of Flipkart Online Services Pvt has approved an agreement to sell about 75 percent of the company to a Walmart Inc.-led group for approximately $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, an enormous bet by the American retailer on international expansion.

Under the proposed deal, SoftBank Group Corp. will sell all of the 20-plus percent stake it holds in Flipkart through an investment fund at a valuation of roughly $20 billion, said the people, asking not to be named because the matter is private. Google-parent Alphabet Inc. is likely to participate in the investment with Walmart, said one of the people. A final close is expected within 10 days, though terms could still change and a deal isn’t certain, they said.