Japanese investment giant SoftBank has agreed to sell its stake in Flipkart for about $4.5 billion, marking a 60% gain on the original investment made in the Indian ecommerce company.

Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son approved the stake sale after Walmart, the American retailer looking to acquire Flipkart, wanted complete control after the takeover, said people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank, which owns about 20% in Flipkart, is believed to have been critical to this decision.

The deal will be the biggest exit for the Japanese investment firm, which is a shareholder in ride-hailing firms Ola and Uber, in India.

The decision comes after Walmart, the company looking to acquire a majority stake in Flipkart, wanted complete control over the e-commerce major post its takeover. SoftBank is believed to have been critical to this decision.

Walmart is likely to announce the deal by the end of May, sources had said earlier. Flipkart's board is yet to finalise a deal to sell a controlling stake to Walmart Inc, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Also read: Flipkart turns into private firm for buyout by Walmart

The proceeds from the sale will be used for SoftBank’s expansion plans in India.Besides Flipkart, Softbank has investments in Inmobi, Housing.com and Oyo.

Also read: Exclusive: Walmart keen on Flipkart's IPO post acquisition

First Published:May 7, 2018 1:46 PM IST