Wal-Mart Agrees To Buy Jet.com For $3.3 billion

World largest retailer, Wal-Mart has agreed to acquire online retailer, jet.com in a deal valued at 43.3 billion making it one of the largest ever acquisition of e-commerce in the world.

The world's largest retailer said a portion of the $3 billion will be paid over time. Additionally, $300 million of Wal-Mart shares will be paid over time as part of the deal, which is expected to close this year, subject to regulatory approval. Terms of those payments were not disclosed.

After the close, Wal-Mart and Jet plan to maintain distinct brands, with Wal-Mart's website continuing to focus on emphasizing the company's "everyday low price" strategy, while Jet.com provides a curated experience that targets millennials.

Jet's co-founder and CEO Marc Lore will join Wal-Mart, bringing his vast e-commerce experience as a co-founder of Quidsi, the parent of Diapers.com, which was sold to Amazon.

Tapping an outsider is a shift for Wal-Mart, which has grown its online business to become the second largest etailer behind Amazon through internal investment. But growth at Wal-Mart's online business has been sluggish of late and online sales have never been more important for retailers.

Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea expects the impact of the deal to be "benign" on Amazon, but sees it as sign that Wal-Mart is taking its online operations seriously. The company's shares were slightly lower, near $73, early Monday.

"This acquisition, in tandem with its joint-venture in China with JD.com, demonstrates that Walmart is attacking online retail with significant zeal," O'Shea said. "As we believe 'catching' Amazon online is an unrealistic goal for any brick-and-mortar retailer, Walmart now has a definite leg-up on its competitors in the very important race to be number 2 online."

Wal-Mart's website pulls in $13.6 billion in annual revenue, according to eMarketer. That compares to roughly $98 million in global revenues at Amazon, when combining its media sales with those from electronics and general merchandise, Cowen & Co. data shows.

Although Jet has been operating its site for only a little more than a year, it has already reached $1 billion in run-rate gross merchandise value, and boasts a growing customer base of urban and millennial customers. The site says it has been adding more than 400,000 new shoppers each month and processes an average of 25,000 orders daily.