By Baiju Kalesh and Anto Antony
Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart is exploring going public in the U.S. through a merger with a blank-check company as it seeks to quicken its listing process, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Bengaluru-based online retailer has been weighing a U.S. initial public offering and it’s now also looking at other options, the people said. Flipkart’s advisers have approached several SPACs, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is not public. Flipkart could seek a valuation of at least $35 billion in a blank-check transaction, the people said.
People familiar with the deal said the investment is worth USD 2.5 billion, with about USD 1.5 billion being directly funnelled into Flipkart and USD 1 billion for part of Tiger Global Management s stake. The SoftBank Vision Fund, the world s largest technology-focused fund, will get about 20 per cent stake inFlipkart, they said.
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Flipkart gets leaner with a $300 million Jabong write-off as CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy lists out the priorities for 2021
Flipkart gets leaner with a $300 million Jabong write-off as CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy lists out the priorities for 2021
Sanchita DashFeb 19, 2021, 15:08 IST
BCCL
As Walmart-owned Flipkart moves towards a possibly $10 billion initial public offering (IPO), it seems to be shedding flab with a nearly $300 million write off in Jabong.
Flipkart India CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy described 2020 as the year when the company turned ‘financially prudent’, without adding any details.
Judith McKenna, president and chief executive of Walmart International, said that even after Flipkart being shut for 53 days in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the e-commerce business closed the year stronger than it started.