Two Of Flipkart’s Investors Keep Valuations Unchanged Despite Mounting Losses

Two of Flipkart's mutual fund investors have kept the e-commerce giant's valuation unchanged even as losses continue to mount.

Valic Company and T. Rowe valued Flipkart between $11.7 and $15.9 billion for the quarter ended March, according to separate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The valuations have remained unchanged since the quarter ended August.

That's after accumulated losses of India's largest online retailer stood at nearly Rs 24,000 crore ($3.6 billion) as of March 2017, according to filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore. Losses widened from nearly Rs 10,000 crore a year ago.

Flipkart was last valued at about $12.5 billion when it raised $2.5 billion from Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Vision Fund in August 2017. That was much lower than its $15.2 billion valuation in 2015 as the company raised $700 million from investors including Tiger Global and Steadview Capital.

Valic Company

Mutual fund investor Valic's Mid Cap Strategic Growth Fund, which owns around 13,407 shares in Flipkart, has valued it between $87.6 and $118.3 apiece, according to its filings with the SEC on April 27. That amounts to a valuation of $11.7-15.9 billion.

T. Rowe Price

One of the mutual fund managed by T. Rowe – The T. Rowe Price Tax-Efficient Fund – owns around 1,387 shares in the e-commerce company and has valued it at $118.24 a piece, as per its April 24 filing with the SEC. That values Flipkart at $15.9 billion.

The unchanged valuation comes at a time when Walmart is close to finalising a deal to buy a majority stake in Flipkart for at least $12 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. Walmart will likely end up with 60-80 percent of Flipkart, valued at about $20 billion, the report added.

SoftBank and Tiger Global that is currently the startup's largest shareholders holds about 20.8 percent and 20.6 percent stake in the company. Tiger Global Management will sell nearly all its stake in Flipkart, while SoftBank Group Corp. will offload a substantial part of the holding, the Bloomberg report added.