Flipkart plans to float its IPO in the fourth quarter of 2021

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Apr 8, 2021

Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart is planning to open its initial public offering (IPO) during the fourth quarter of this year.
 

Walmart has set up an internal IPO team for Flipkart and the start-up’s valuation is expected to top $35 billion as it goes public.
 
Flipkart has hired Saroj Panigrahi, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. attorney to drive its IPO process., Bloomberg reported citing sources.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are in discussions with the company about advising on the deal and are frontrunners to be formally selected, the sources told Bloomberg added.

“Flipkart’s IPO will be a large, exciting public offering and a very significant milestone for India’s start-up ecosystem. With the IPO, all doubts will be quelled, and Walmart will have come full circle,” said Neha Singh, co-founder and chief executive officer of private market intelligence researcher Tracxn Technologies Pvt.

Walmart acquired a roughly 77 percent stake in Flipkart for about $16 billion back in 2018. That deal remains the single largest foreign direct investment in India.

In July last year, Flipkart had raised $1.2 billion in fresh funding with Walmart as its lead investor. That round valued Flipkart, which counts China's Tencent, U.S. hedge fund Tiger Global, and Microsoft among its investors, at $24.9 billion.