2022 will see Flipkart tap into the US equity market!
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart, informed his top lieutenants about the initial public offering (IPO) timeline in a board meeting held at Bentonville, Arkansas, on the sidelines of Walmart’s annual shareholders’ conference.
Krishnamurthy’s discussions with his core team laid emphasis on the need to tighten compliance and achieve profitability over the next two years as it prepares to go public.
Walmart, which acquired Flipkart a year ago, may be looking to use an IPO to partially or fully exit the Indian company in which it holds a 77 per cent stake. Walmart is focusing more on profitability as it saw its gross profit decline for its international business due to the inclusion of Flipkart in financial performance.
“Aside from policy changes that hit e-commerce players with implementation of new foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations, making the business profitable in a largely discount-led industry is challenging for Walmart,” said a person familiar with the developments of the move.
For the Bengaluru-based Flipkart, which is considered an epitome of the Indian consumer internet story, going public will ensure further liquidity for investors including Walmart, Tencent, Tiger Global, as well as employees.
