Bengaluru, Dec 3:
By S.N.Thyagarajan
Flipkart announced on Thursday that it was partially spinning off Phonepe to enable the digital payments platform to gain access to capital and fuel its growth. The Walmart Inc backed Flipkart, which was founded in 2015, is a competitor to Alibaba-backed Paytm and Google pay. The company is set to raise $700 million, Flipkart said in a statement.
It is hinted that the funds will be raised at a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion from existing investors lead by Walmart. PhonePe has more than 100 million subscribers monthly and it was last in the news for clocking one billion payments in October.
PhonePe’s shareholding after the spin off
This move will help @PhonePe_ access dedicated, long-term funds for its growth plans. In this financing round led by Walmart, PhonePe is raising $700 mn primary capital at post-money valuation of $5.5 bn @PeerzadaAbrar reports https://t.co/ybLiqZzkGq
— Business Standard (@bsindia) December 3, 2020
Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru, started off as a website for selling books. It has now grown to be a big e-commerce player along the lines of Amazon and Snapdeal. In 2018, Walmart bought a majority stake in Flipkart making it Walmart’s subsidiary.
As of 2017, Flipkart held 39.7% market share in India’s growing e-commerce market. Flipkart’s other subsidiaries include Myntra and Ekart.
Source: Reuters, Business Standard