Flipkart IPO 'very much on the cards', no timeline for it: Walmart CFO

Flipkart IPO: Timing will depend on where the business is and market conditions, says Brett Biggs

Flipkart’s initial public offering (IPO) is on the cards but there is no timeline for it, said Brett Biggs, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Walmart, the American retailer that owns the Indian e-commerce firm

"The (Flipkart) business is performing almost exactly like we thought it would. An IPO is still very much on the cards for that business,” said Biggs, at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference recently. “It's the timing. Is the business exactly where you want? Is the market right? All those things (we) have to figure into (when) you do an IPO.”

He said the IPO should be about letting Flipkart’s associates have a piece of the business. According to sources, Flipkart was eyeing a $50-billion valuation through its initial public offering (IPO) in the US by next year. This would be the biggest IPO in the consumer tech space in India.

To create an interim event and set the stage, In July this year,  Flipkart Group carved a niche for itself in the global league by raising $3.6 billion, including from SoftBank, which had exited the firm, valuing the company at $37.6 billion, which is more than a 50 per cent rise in a year.

Last year in July, Walmart led a $1.2-billion round in Flipkart, valuing the e-commerce firm at $24.9 billion. The world’s largest retailer is battling Amazon India, Reliance’s JioMart and the Tata group for dominance in India’s online retail market through Flipkart, which it bought for $16 billion in 2018. India’s online market is projected to soar to $1 trillion in the next few years.