The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday approved American retail giant Walmart Stores Inc's proposal to acquire Bharti Group's nearly 50 per cent stake in their Indian wholesale stores joint venture.

Walmart and Bharti Group had created the joint venture in 2007, called Bharti Walmart Private Limited, to operate wholesale stores. But, the two companies announced in October this year that they had decided to part with each other. The foreign partner approached the CCI in November, seeking approval for its plan to acquire Bharti Group's stake in the JV.

The split between Walmart and Bharti involves two inter-connected and inter-dependent transactions with regard to their businesses. The first is the purchase of 50 per cent stake minus 515 equity shares of Bharti Walmart from Bharti group's investment holding company BVL and its wholly-owned subsidiary Cedar.

The remaining stake in the JV is already held by Walmart. The second transaction involves the purchase of Cedar's 455.8 million compulsorily convertible debentures by BVL from Walmart Mauritius Holdings.

The JV, which operates under the Best Price Modern Wholesale brand, currently has nineteen such wholesale cash-&-carry stores across the country. At the time of breakup, Bharti Walmart Private Limited had 212 stores.