Flipkart, the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce startup that intently fights Amazon within the South Asian market, is making ready to shift its headquarters again to India from Singapore as the corporate prepares to file for an Initial Public Offering on Indian inventory exchanges.
On Monday, Flipkart mentioned the transfer “represents a pure evolution, aligning our holding construction with our core operations, the huge potential of the Indian economic system.”
The e-commerce large, which began its operations in 2007 in Bengaluru, moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2011 to draw extra international investments, profit from tax benefits, and higher navigate bureaucratic hurdles and political challenges in India.
“As an organization born and nurtured in India, this transition will additional improve our focus and agility in serving our clients, sellers, companions, and communities to proceed contributing to the nation’s rising digital economic system and entrepreneurship,” a Flipkart spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
The relocation is topic to requisite approvals, the startup mentioned, with out disclosing a selected timeline. However, Flipkart is predicted to file for an Initial Public Offering within the nation someday subsequent 12 months.
In 2022, Walmart-backed PhonePe, which break up from Flipkart in late 2022, moved its headquarters to India from Singapore. Several different startups, together with Zepto and Groww, have additionally relocated their headquarters to India in the previous few months as they sought public listings on the Indian inventory exchanges.
However, India’s present public market surroundings isn’t as interesting because it had been up till late final 12 months, because the market goes by means of some corrections and is impacted by macro circumstances. IPOs made up round $19 billion of the report $70 billion fairness deal quantity reached in India final 12 months, with 11 IPOs priced at above $500 million, per a report by Goldman Sachs.
Nonetheless, traders are optimistic in regards to the development potential within the Indian market, as a number of corporations are ready to go public this 12 months and subsequent.
“The supportive valuation surroundings has spurred issuer exercise. Plenty of the unicorns who have been considering of going public within the U.S. switched to India as a result of they felt India supported a greater valuation,” mentioned Sudarshan Ramakrishnan, co-head of India funding banking at Goldman Sachs.
The newest transfer by Flipkart additionally comes virtually a 12 months elevating $350 million from Google as a part of an almost $1 billion funding spherical, which it kicked off in 2023. The startup is valued at $36 billion within the final funding.
