PhonePe Officially Separates From Flipkart In Road To IPO

Payments major PhonePe is now officially separated from Flipkart, the companies announced on Thursday.

Flipkart and PhonePe are now set up as separate businesses within the Walmart Group. Before, PhonePe was a business that was part of Flipkart.

The formal completion follows the partial separation announced in December 2020.

"Setting up these businesses as separate entities will also provide value and create new opportunities for investors to participate in the Indian tech ecosystem—helping unlock and maximize enterprise value for shareholders of the two companies," the company said in a press release.

As part of this transaction, existing Flipkart Singapore and PhonePe Singapore shareholders, led by Walmart, have purchased shares directly in PhonePe India. "This completes the move to make PhonePe a fully India-domiciled company, a process that started earlier this year," it said.

Walmart will remain the majority shareholder of both business groups.

“We are looking forward to the next phase of our growth as we invest in new businesses such as insurance, wealth management, and lending, while also enabling the next wave of growth for UPI payments in India," said Sameer Nigam, founder and chief executive officer at PhonePe. "This will help propel our vision to provide billions of Indians with financial inclusion," he said

The separation comes as PhonePe nears its own initial public offering. As reported by Bloomberg earlier this month, an IPO is about 18-24 months away for the company, as it looks to raise around $1 billion at a $13 billion valuation.