New Delhi: US-based shopping chain giant Walmart is eyeing an IPO of Flipkart and PhonePe in 2 years, said a senior company executive. Dan Bartlett, VP of corporate affairs at Walmart, said the company is looking at the public issues of its Indian e-commerce arm Walmart and payments arm PhonePe. Bartlett was speaking on the sidelines of the shareholder meeting at the company’s headquarters.
Flipkart or PhonePe: Which company will bring IPO first?
Bartlett elaborated that Walmart is likely to bring an IPO of PhonePe before Flipkart. PhonePe, which leads India’s UPI market with a 51 per cent share, reported a 77 per cent rise in revenues in FY23. The payments company has over 490 million registered users.
Along with Flipkart, PhonePe is valued as a $100 billion business by Walmart CFO John D Rainey. PhonePe was sequestered from Flipkart in 2022 and redomiciled to India from Singapore. Last month, Walmart CEO Kathryn McLay also said that the company was looking at the right time to “IPO that business” with reference to Flipkart.
Flipkart’s FY23 net loss was over Rs 4,800 crore, wider than the Rs 3,400 crore loss reported a year ago. The company is ahead of Jeff Bezos-founded Amazon in India’s e-commerce market with a 48 per cent market share.
Google to invest in Flipkart?
Search engine giant Google is likely to invest around $350 million for a minority stake in Flipkart, Reuters reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The deal is expected to value Flipkart at $37 billion. The investment is expected to support Flipkart’s expansion and modernisation of its digital infrastructure, the e-commerce giant said.
Flipkart was acquired by Walmart in 2018. Since then, the company has witnessed the exit of its founders Sachin and Binny Bansal. The e-commerce giant is now led by Kalyan Krishnamurthy. The comoany also owns travel ticketing platform Cleartrip.
E-commerce giant Flipkart and payments giant PhonePe are likely to go the IPO route within the next 2 years, said Walmart’s VP of of corporate affairs, Don Bartlett. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
