(Bloomberg) — Walmart Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $3.74 billion by selling its stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
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The U.S. retailer is offering 144.5 million shares at a price of between $24.85 and $25.85, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Morgan Stanley is the bookrunner for the offering, they added.
Representatives for Walmart, JD.com and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
JD.com shares closed at $28.19 apiece on Tuesday, down 10% in after-hours trading. Walmart shares are trading at a discount of as much as 11.8% from Tuesday's close, according to Bloomberg calculations.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Walmart is its largest shareholder. The share sale would mark the end of a partnership between the two companies that began when Walmart acquired a 5% stake in the Chinese company in 2016 in a deal that also involved JD.com taking over Walmart’s Yihaodian online marketplace, which focused on selling groceries to high-end female shoppers in major Chinese cities, the companies said at the time. Later that year, Walmart increased its stake in JD.com to 10.8%.
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