The deal is also Walmart's biggest bet in foreign markets, where it has historically struggled. The retailer's previous biggest acquisition, Asda - which it bought in 1999, was sold last month to Sainsbury's.

Deals and investments made by Walmart in the past two decades:

** Walmart bought UK grocery chain Asda Group PLC in 1999 for 6.7 billion pounds, which was the retailer's biggest acquisition up until the Flipkart deal. Last month, Sainsbury's bought Asda for around 7.3 billion pounds, after Walmart struggled with the business over the past five years.

** Walmart sold its German retail business to Metro AG in 2006, taking a loss of $1 billion. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed https://news.walmart.com/news-archive/investors/wal-mart-announces-sale-of-german-business-888986.

** In 2006, Walmart sold its South Korean retail business to Shinsegae Co for 825 won billion https://corporate.walmart.com/_news_/news-archive/2006/05/22/wal-mart-announces-sale-of-south-korean-business ($882 million).

** Walmart spent up to 100 billion yen ($878 million) to buy out minority shareholders in Japanese supermarket unit Seiyu Ltd in 2007 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-seiyu/wal-mart-to-acquire-rest-of-japan-retailer-seiyu-idUST3089520071022.

** In 2012, Walmart got the go ahead from a South African court for its $2.4 billion acquisition of retailer Massmart https://www.reuters.com/article/us-massmart-walmart/wal-mart-wins-final-go-ahead-for-massmart-deal-idUSBRE8280KH20120309.

** In 2015, a unit of conglomerate China Resources Corp plans to sell minority stakes it holds in 21 Wal-Mart Stores Inc outlets around China for $525 million https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wal-mart-china-idUSKCN0S30M120151009.

** In June 2016, Walmart sold its Chinese online grocery store, Yihaodian, in return for a stake in the country's no. 2 e-commerce firm JD.com Inc https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-yihaodian-jd-com-idUSKCN0Z61BW.

** Walmart paid $3.3 billion for internet retailer Jet.com and its innovative pricing software in the August of 2016 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-jet-com-idUSKCN11P27U.

** Walmart in January 2017, announced that it was buying online shoe seller Shoebuy.com from Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp IAC for $70 million https://news.walmart.com/2017/01/05/jet-announces-the-acquisition-of-shoebuy-a-leading-online-footwear-retailer.

** Walmart bought online outdoor retailer Moosejaw in February 2017 for about $51 million https://news.walmart.com/2017/02/15/walmart-announces-the-acquisition-of-moosejaw-a-leading-online-outdoor-retailer in cash giving the U.S. retailer a slew of popular brands including Patagonia and North Face.

** In March 2017, Walmart bought women's vintage-inspired retailer Modcloth.com. The value of the transaction was not disclosed https://news.walmart.com/2017/03/17/walmart-announces-the-acquisition-of-modcloth-a-leading-online-womens-fashion-retailer.

** In June of 2017, Walmart said it would buy online men's fashion retailer Bonobos Inc for $310 million.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)