Flipkart, PhonePe complete separation; Walmart continues to be a majority stakeholder

Fintech unicorn PhonePe has separated from its parent company and e-commerce giant, Flipkart, according to a joint announcement by both the companies. The statement announced the full ownership separation of PhonePe. Both the companies will function as separate entities with Walmart continuing to be the majority stakeholder in them.
 
“As part of this transaction, existing Flipkart Singapore and PhonePe Singapore shareholders, led by Walmart, have purchased shares directly in PhonePe India. This also completes the move to make PhonePe a fully India-domiciled company, a process that started earlier this year,” the statement revealed.

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PhonePe was founded by ex-Flipkart executives Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, and was acquired by the Sachin and Binny Bansal-founded company in 2016. In 2018 Flipkart was acquired by Walmart, and PhonePe was part of the transaction as well. The digital payments company was Flipkart’s third major acquisition in the space after NGPay and FX Mart Pvt. Ltd at that point in time. 
 
Commenting on this development, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of the Flipkart Group, said, “The Flipkart Group has developed many successful entrepreneurs and seen impactful businesses started by former employees. We are proud to see PhonePe grow and thrive as a successful organization in its own right.”

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PhonePe’s Founder and CEO, Sameer Nigam said that the company is looking forward to the next phase of their growth and is also looking to invest in business opportunities that lie in the insurance, lending and wealth management verticals. “This will help propel our vision to provide billions of Indians with financial inclusion,” he said.
 
According to a few investment banking sources who spoke to PTI, the fintech major plans to go public once its core businesses turn profitable, which it hopes to achieve by 2023.
 
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