Wal-Mart Sells Main China Website for $1.5 Billion Stake in JD.com

(Beijing) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will exchange its main Chinese shopping website for around $1.5 billion worth of shares in JD.com Inc., China's second largest e-commerce company, in hopes of bolstering its presence in the country's burgeoning but cutthroat online shopping market.

Wal-Mart will sell its Yihaodian website for 145 million newly issued class A shares in JD.com, amounting to about 5 percent of the Chinese company, the pair said in a joint statement on June 21.