Flipkart IPO A Long-Term Ambition: Walmart

SUMMARY

The comments mirror statements made earlier by Walmart executives, including Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna

Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had earlier said the company would look at multiple geographies for its IPO, to be in the range of $60-70 Bn

Walmart is currently lining up a potential PhonePe IPO in 2024, having brought the fintech giant back to India at an expense of $1 Bn in taxes

Walmart, the majority stakeholder in Flipkart, said that an initial public offering (IPO) of the Indian ecommerce giant remains its ‘long-term ambition’ after it bought out Tiger Global’s stake.

The IPO remains ‘our long-term ambition, and it will come at the right time’, a Walmart spokesperson was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. The comments mirror statements made earlier by Walmart executives, including Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna.

The US-based retailer’s optimism comes months after Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had said the company would look at multiple geographies, including India, for its public issue, said to be in the range of $60-70 Bn.

“We value Tiger Global’s involvement and support over the last several years. We remain confident in the future of Flipkart and are even more positive about the opportunity in India today than when we first invested,” the spokesperson said, talking about the secondary share sale that saw Walmart pay $1.4 Bn to buy Tiger Global’s remaining stake in Flipkart.

While WSJ reported Flipkart’s valuation to have been $38 Bn during the secondary share sale, a Bloomberg report pegged the same closer to $35 Bn. Nevertheless, Tiger Global is said to have made a gain of $3.5 Bn on an investment of $1.2 Bn.

The comments from Walmart follow the retail giant’s continued confidence in its major subsidiaries in India – Flipkart and PhonePe. While it continues to hoover up shares in Flipkart, giving early investors exits, Walmart is also working on a potential PhonePe IPO in 2024.

To that extent, the US-headquartered retailer has spent nearly $1 Bn to pay off the fintech decacorn’s retrospective tax liability to bring it back to India. On top of that, Walmart has also invested $200 Mn in PhonePe’s ongoing $1 Bn fundraise.

The two entities are also going through a separation – Flipkart had acquired PhonePe in 2016 before Walmart acquired Flipkart in 2018. The move caused a change in Flipkart’s share price, resulting in thousands of the ecommerce giant’s employees with stock options being eligible for a payout worth $700 Mn.

Earlier this year, Walmart CFO John David Rainey said that the two entities have the potential to become $100 Bn businesses. “It is not crazy to think that both those businesses could be $100 Bn businesses in the future,” said Rainey during an investor conference in June.

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