Walmart’s Flipkart Raises New Fund For $ 38 Billion Valuation As IPO Looms

BENGALURU, July 12 (Reuters) – Flipkart, owned by Walmart Inc (WMT.N), will double its valuation in less than three years to $ 37.6 billion after the latest funding which included SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), as an Indian online retailer is preparing to go public later this year.

The US retail giant bought a 77% stake in Flipkart for $ 16 billion in 2018 and has since spread to small towns and cities, added more items such as furniture and goods of groceries to its online store and increased its warehouses in its run with Amazon.com (AMZN.O) Unit India.

The Bengaluru-based company is targeting a $ 50 billion valuation for its public listing and was in talks in the United States for a deal with a blank check company, people familiar with the matter told Reuters in March. Read more

Its new funding round was led by investors GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart and marks the return of SoftBank, which had sold its roughly 20% stake to Walmart during the 2018 deal.

“SoftBank’s reinvestment in Flipkart is driven by our experience and belief in the company’s leadership team to continue to meet the needs of Indian consumers in the decades to come,” said Lydia Jett, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.

Like its rival Amazon, Flipkart started out by selling books, but quickly branched out into the sale of smartphones, clothing and other items.

“We will focus on accelerating the growth of millions of Indian small and medium-sized businesses, including kiranas,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Managing Director of Flipkart, in a statement.

The new capital will be used to expand operations and invest more in the company’s grocery, fashion and last-mile delivery programs, Flipkart said.

The rapid adoption of smartphones in India and cheap mobile data has propelled the growth of digital startups that sell everything from groceries and cosmetics to smartphones and vacations.

Several prominent Indian startups have also set out plans to go public to take advantage of liquidity from foreign funds. Some are closely watched, including food delivery startup Zomato, payment services PayTM, beauty brand Nykaa, and rideshare service Ola.

Twenty-two companies debuted this year as of July 9. There were $ 3.6 billion of IPOs in India in the first half of 2021, up from $ 1.1 billion in the same period last year, according to Refinitiv.

The level so far this year is the highest since 2008. read more

Report by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur

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