Walmart Exec Says PhonePe, Flipkart IPOs Could Take A While, Payments Portal To Be Placed On Offer First: Report

Walmart operates both Flipkart and PhonePe, and the businesses in India could be worth $100 billion, backed by robust growth, the company’s CFO said earlier

As of March 2023, PhonePe contributed to nearly 51 per cent of the transaction value of UPI’s in India.

Source : Walmart

E-commerce platform, Flipkart, and digital payments portal, PhonePe, could reportedly take some years to come out with their maiden public offerings, a senior executive at Walmart said recently.

Speaking at the shareholder meeting of the firm nears its headquarters in Arkansas on Thursday, Dan Bartlett, Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Walmart, noted that the initial public offerings of both the platforms could take a few years, reported Reuters. 

“This is something we're looking at over the next couple of years,” the senior executive stated. He added that Walmart could prioritise an IPO for PhonePe before Flipkart, even though the latter is a more mature business. 

Regarding the maiden listing of PhonePe, Bartlett added, “There's a lot of processes that have to be put in place before we go public. Obviously the question about the Indian exchange versus others is under consideration.”

Walmart operates both Flipkart and PhonePe, and the businesses in India could be worth $100 billion, backed by robust growth, the company’s CFO said earlier. 

Notably, PhonePe, based in India, is linked to the instant money transfer system in India, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and allows users to exchange money across banks without having to disclose account details.

As of March 2023, PhonePe contributed to nearly 51 per cent of the transaction value of UPI’s in India. The company has over 490 million registered users and in October 2023, it reported a 77 per cent surge in its consolidated revenue for the 2022-23 fiscal year (FY23). It noted that increasing popularity amongst customers helped the firm.

Notably, Flipkart’s valuation declined by around Rs 41,000 crore in the last two years, a report by Walmart revealed in March 2024. As per the company, the valuation of the e-commerce entity plunged to $35 billion as of January end 2024, against the $40 billion valuation logged in January end, 2022.