Amazon makes offer for a majority stake in Flipkart

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Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO

Amazon has made a formal offer to buy a majority stake in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, CNBC affiliate CNBC TV-18 reported Wednesday, citing sources.

The U.S. e-commerce giant has offered to purchase a 60 percent stake in Flipkart. As part of the proposal, Amazon is seeking a non-compete agreement from Flipkart’s founders, TV-18 said.

Amazon’s bid is a counter to Walmart, which is reportedly in advanced talks to become the largest shareholder of Flipkart. Several reports earlier this year said the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company could invest between $10 billion and $12 billion for the entire purchase, but the primary investment would be between $1 billion and $2 billion.

CNBC TV-18 reported that Amazon’s bid is likely to be on par with Walmart’s. Amazon is also offering a $2 billion break-up fee.

Flipkart and SoftBank declined to comment on the report. Amazon was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Read the full CNBC TV-18 report here.