Flipkart’s largest investor Tiger Global raises stake in Amazon.com

Bangalore: Tiger Global Management, which is the largest investor in online retailer Flipkart, has increased its stake in Flipkart’s rival Amazon.com Inc., according to a report by Business Insider.

The Business Insider report said that in the last quarter, Tiger Global bought 2.44 million shares of Nasdaq-listed Amazon, whose Indian unit is engaged in a bruising market share battle with Flipkart.

Amazon is now Tiger Global’s second-largest public holding, the report said, citing regulatory filings by Tiger.

Mint couldn’t immediately reach Tiger for comments. Flipkart and Amazon didn’t respond to emails till the filing of the report.

Tiger Global is a US-based investment fund that picks up stakes in both public and private companies, which are overseen by different partners. The firm is one of the most prolific e-commerce and tech investors in public and private markets around the world. At various points in time, Tiger has held stakes in China’s Alibaba Group Holdings and Facebook Inc.

Investor conflicts aren’t uncommon and Tiger Global is one of the hundreds of investors in Amazon.

However, the fund’s large bet on Amazon may prove to be awkward for Flipkart, which is Tiger Global’s largest private bet.

Last July, Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos promised to invest $2 billion in India over time as the company seeks to overtake Flipkart and become the largest e-commerce firm in India. Amazon needs to build a large business in India after losing out on China to local rival Alibaba Group Holdings.

Flipkart, on the other hand, has raised more than $2.5 billion over the past 18 months to stave off Amazon and maintain its position as the country’s largest e-commerce firm. Tiger contributed more than $1 billion of this amount, valuing Flipkart at roughly $15 billion.