May 09, 2018 05:51 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Honest mistake! SoftBank CEO beats Walmart, Flipkart in takeover announcement

The SoftBank CEO accidentally confirmed Walmart's acquisition of Flipkart during an investor call, hours before an official announcement.

Moneycontrol News

Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp, unwittingly confirmed the Walmart-Flipkart deal in an investor call, hours before the official announcement.

Son reportedly thought that the acquisition had already been formally announced.

"I think we announced it last night. If not, well then that means I'm just spouting this out. In any case, it's been decided," Son said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

SoftBank is Flipkart's largest investor, owning about 20 percent of the company. The Japanese firm is reportedly selling its entire stake to Walmart.

The deal between the Bengaluru-based online retailer and the Bentonville-based retail giant was made public later on Wednesday.

Walmart has bought 77 percent in the online retailer for about USD 16  billion, according to reports.

"Oh, I see here that the Flipkart-Walmart deal isn't fully confirmed at this point in time," the SoftBank CEO told a laughing audience, Bloomberg reported.

"Yabai desune," Son said, which translates to "Oops" or "That's not good" in Japanese.