Wal-Mart Confirms $3 Billion Deal For Jet.com

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT and Jet.com, Inc. confirmed earlier reports by announcing they have reached a definitive agreement. This is considered a step in the right direction to take on Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN within the e-commerce space.

Accordingly, Wal-mart would buy Jet for about $3 billion in cash. Interestingly, a part of the cash component would be paid over time, with the retailer indicating $300 million of its shares would be paid over time as part of the agreement, as well.

Wal-Mart said that the acquisition would build on and complement the considerable foundation laid to serve customers across the Wal-Mart app, site and stores. The company expressed its confidence that the deal would spur even faster e-commerce growth in the future by expanding customer reach and adding new capabilities.

Related Link: How Would Jet.com Fit Into Wal-Mart's Operations?

President and CEO Doug McMillon commented, "We believe the acquisition of Jet accelerates our progress across these priorities. Walmart.com will grow faster, the seamless shopping experience we're pursuing will happen quicker, and we'll enable the Jet brand to be even more successful in a shorter period of time. Our customers will win. It's another jolt of entrepreneurial spirit being injected into Walmart."

Jet.com is among the rapidly growing and innovative e-commerce companies in the United States led by co-founder and CEO Marc Lore along with fellow co-founders Mike Hanrahan and Nate Faust.

Following the news, Wal-Mart traded up by $0.39, or 0.53 percent, to $74.10 in Monday's pre-market trading.

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