Walmart-Backed Flipkart Readies Mumbai IPO

Flipkart, one of India’s biggest eCommerce platforms, is preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in Mumbai that could take place this year or early next year, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (March 11), citing unnamed sources.

The Walmart-backed firm could start the formal process of inviting banks to pitch for work on the IPO as soon as next month, according to the report.

The preparations are at an early stage, and the timing may change, per the report.

Flipkart did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

According to the Bloomberg report, Flipkart was valued at $35 billion in 2023 when Walmart bought Tiger Global Management’s stake in the company.

Walmart already had a 77% stake in Flipkart that it bought for $16 billion in 2018, per the report. The company later increased its stake through additional acquisitions.

Bloomberg said that Flipkart’s Monday (March 9) announcement that it received government approval to move its domicile from Singapore to India marks an important step in its preparations to list in India.

PYMNTS reported in December 2024 that India’s eCommerce and quick commerce market has attracted global giants like Walmart and Amazon. India is the world’s most populous country, and at that time its population was only beginning to embrace the digital space.

The PYMNTS Intelligence and Cybersource collaboration “2023 Global Digital Shopping Index: India Edition” found that 35% of in-store shoppers in India used smartphones to price shop in real time.

It was reported in November that both Flipkart and Amazon were expanding their lending footprint in India, with Flipkart exploring buy now, pay later (BNPL) products and Amazon planning to offer loans to small business owners.

Flipkart appointed a new group controller in January: Jason Chappel, who joined the company from Walmart, where he most recently served as group director at Walmart Enterprise Business Services.

The company said at the time in a press release that it aimed to reinforce its focus on strong governance, operational excellence and scalable growth.

Chappel said in the release: “I am excited to join Flipkart at a time when the business is scaling rapidly across categories and capabilities.”