Private equity firms Accel and Tiger Global, two early backers of Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart, are in talks to sell their remaining stake in the company for about $1.5 billion (Rs 12,235 crore), The Economic Times reported. The stake was sold to parent company Walmart on Thursday.
The stake, which would add up to about 5 percent, would boost Walmart’s ownership of the e-commerce giant, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
“They (Accel and Tiger) want to sell and exit completely now. Discussions are advancing and the deal will be completed in due course,” a source with knowledge of the matter told ET.
Accel owns just over 1 percent of Flipkart, while Tiger Global owns about 4 percent of the company, the report said.
Flipkart, Walmart and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Accel could not immediately be reached for comment.
Walmart bought a majority stake in Flipkart for about $16 billion (Rs 13,000 crore) in 2018, its largest ever deal, and said later that year it could take the company public within four years .
In April last year, Reuters reported that Flipkart internally raised its IPO valuation target by about a third to $60 billion (Rs 49,000 crore) to $70 billion (Rs 57,000 crore) It is planned to be launched in the United States in 2023.
Earlier this month, Walmart confirmed that the US retailer is moving its headquarters from Singapore to India through PhonePe, a digital payments company owned by Flipkart.
Walmart bought a controlling stake in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart in 2018, allowing it to own PhonePe. The company said last month that it had finalized the separation of PhonePe from Flipkart, adding that it would remain a majority shareholder in both companies.
© Thomson Reuters 2023