Walmart, set to buy out Indian e-commerce company Flipkart for $16 billion, is being hit with an antitrust petition from an Indian group representing small traders, according to Quartz India.
The Confederation of All India Traders, which includes 70 million-plus smaller and offline traders, filed the antitrust petition with the Competition Commission of India May 28. The organization argues a Walmart-Flipkart deal "will create unfair competition and uneven playing field" and could result in "predatory pricing, deep discounts and loss funding."
Walmart and Flipkart need CCI's OK to move forward with the deal. The two companies, which if combined would be the world's biggest e-commerce firm, wrote to the CCI May 19 that their relevant market for combination is in B2B sales, and the "proposed transaction does not give rise to competition concerns," according to The Economic Times.
But offline retailers like those represented by CAIT argue their businesses will be overrun by a Walmart-Flipkart entity. "Walmart, arguably the world's largest retailer in the market, would sell its inventory on the platform of Flipkart, either directly or through a web of associated preferred sellers," CAIT said. The organization argues this would swell Walmart's e-commerce market share and force small offline sellers to either exit or sell on Flipkart.
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