E-commerce major Flipkart is now advancing toward a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). A new Economic Times report cited sources familiar with the matter, stating that the Walmart-owned company is planning to go public within the next 12-15 months. The IPO is expected to become one of the largest listings by a new-economy company in the country.
Flipkart was last valued at $36Bn and earlier this year, was reportedly planning to move its legal domicile from Singapore to India. The company currently operates verticals marketplace operations, logistics, and payments through Indian subsidiaries, and this shift seems to be the centerpiece for gearing up for the IPO. This is slated to happen sometime next year (towards its end) or early 2026, with internal approvals already secured to initiate the process.
If the IPO goes through, then Flipkart will join a long list of homegrown firms to have gone public in recent times. This list includes the likes of Zomato, Nykaa, and Swiggy, each of whom has had successful listings and witnessed growing retail investor interest in the Indian startup ecosystem. Flipkart’s IPO is a long-awaited one, and the e-commerce company has been considering an IPO since 2021. However, the firm had to delay its plans due to unfavorable market conditions in 2022 and 2023. The rising investor confidence in consumer-tech companies, however, seems to have revived Flipkart’s listing ambitions.
Speaking of Walmart, the US-based multinational retail enterprise acquired a majority 81% stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion. Since then, it has played a pivotal role in Flipkart’s growth, and over the years, the Bentonville-based retail giant has invested more than $2 billion into Flipkart, including a $600 million infusion last year. The upcoming IPO is expected to deliver significant financial returns for both Walmart and other stakeholders at Flipkart, including investors like SoftBank and GIC.
As for Flipkart, the company has been actively working to strengthen its financial position ahead of the IPO. In FY24, the company reported a 21% growth in operating revenue to ₹17,907.3 crore, while managing to reduce its losses by 41% to ₹2,358 crore. Advertising revenue saw a 50% increase to ₹5,000 crore for the same period as well. Alongside this, the firm has made a foray into newer areas – it recently introduced Minutes, its quick-commerce service. Similarly, Myntra, its fashion-focused platform, introduced rapid delivery through “M-Now.”
