Flipkart Begins Work For IPO In The US: Looks To Raise $10 Billion At $40 Billion Valuation

In a major development, United States (US) based global retailing giant Walmart Inc-owned Indian e-commerce major Flipkart has now begun the work towards raising a massive sum of $10 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) in the US, reports Hindustan Times.

This comes as at a time when online transactions in India have surged after the coronavirus pandemic, pushing millions of new customers from small towns and cities to switch to online platforms, boosting valuations of e-commerce firms.

Walmart Inc looks to sell around 25 per cent in the company and has hired Goldman Sachs to carry out the works for an IPO which could value Flipkart at a whopping valuation of $40 billion. This would make it the largest IPO by any Indian company on an overseas exchange.

Also, this would mean that the company's valuation would have more than doubled since Walmart Inc had bought 77 per cent stake in it for a price tag of $16 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, during its latest fundraising with Walmart Inc in July, the company had raised $1.2 billion at $24.9 billion valuation. With this, Walmart Inc's holding in the e-commerce giant had increased to 82.3 per cent.

While Flipkart is likely to manifest the IPO goals in 2021, its payments unit PhonePe is also looking for an IPO by 2023. The company is also looking to expand into international markets and may even look to launch in the US through Walmart.