SUMMARY
Bansal had a 4.2% stake in Flipkart at the time of Walmart’s acquisition of the company
The Flipkart cofounder can offload up to half of his stake by 2020
Bansal likely to set up VC firm to invest in early stage startups
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Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal has decided to unload his shares in the ecommerce unicorn once again. Just like in June this year, Binny Bansal has sold 5.3 Lakh shares worth $76 Mn to Luxembourg entity FIT Holdings SARL, owned and operated by Walmart.
According to business intelligence company Paper.vc, the deal took place on November 27. From the previous sale of shares to FIT Holdings SARL, Bansal’s stake in Flipkart has been reduced from 3.85% to 3.3%.
In September 2019, Bansal had also sold $14 Mn to another Flipkart shareholder Tiger Global Management, who now owns 5% stake in the company. Another stakeholder Tencent holds 5.23% stake in Walmart-owned Flipkart.
Walmart had acquired 77% of Flipkart in May 2018 and increased the stake 81.3% in November that year. Walmart had also bought into partial or full stake from Flipkart’s stakeholders back, reducing the shareholders stake — Tencent (5.37%), Tiger Global (4.77%), Binny Bansal (4.2%), Microsoft (1.53%), Accel (1.38%), Iconiq Capital (0.98%), Temasek (0.29%) and UBS (0.19%).
Why Is Bansal Shedding Flipkart Stake?
As per the terms of his contract with Walmart, Bansal is entitled to sell more than half of his stake within two years after Flipkart’s Walmart acquisition, by August 2020. In addition, if Flipkart manages to reach certain milestones, Bansal can raise $400 Mn from this sale.
Reports suggest that Bansal is also offloading his stake in Flipkart to fuel his passion to boost and invest in Indian startup ecosystem. Since his exit from Flipkart, Bansal has taken up much more active role in the startup ecosystem as an angel investor.
According to media reports, Bansal is also planning to set up a $300-$400 Mn venture capital fund to target early stage startups. The new VC fund will look for opportunities to invest in Southeast Asian startups, but its primary focus will be in Indian startups. Bansal will reportedly start off as a general partner (GP) and anchor investor. With time, he will also get other investors on board.
Bansal, along with former Flipkart executive Saikiran Krishnamurthy, also founded a software and consulting venture Xto10X technologies in 2019. Xto10X offers tools, learning and consulting services to growth-stage startups.
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