Flipkart to buy 8% stake in Aditya Birla’s fashion unit for $204 mn

Walmart Inc’s Flipkart will buy a 7.8% stake in India’s Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd for 15 billion rupees ($204 million), giving the ecommerce company a bigger foothold in the high-margin fashion business as it battles it out with rival Amazon.com in the country.

Shares in Aditya Birla Group’s fashion unit rose as much as 6.5% on Friday following the news, hitting their highest since March 30.

The investment comes at a time when Amazon.com Inc, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Flipkart are in a race to gain market share in India’s fast-growing online market for everything from food and groceries to electronics and clothes.

With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping most people indoors, more Indians are shopping online, especially ahead of the key festive season.