When will Flipkart, India’s most coveted and the most valued startup, set the ball rolling for an IPO. This is probably one of the most teasing questions of the Indian startup industry and the answer to this question has been long overdue.
Flipkart’s parent company Walmart has hinted that this teasing question will be answered positively in the long run. In other words, the US retail giant hasn’t ruled out Flipkart’s IPO in the long run.
Talking at UBS Global Consumer & Retail Conference, Walmart’s CFO Brett Biggs said that ‘Flipkart has a potential for the IPO in the long run’ but did not give any specific timeline for the public issue.
Biggs added ‘when you buy a business like that, that’s what you want it to do,’ clearly hinting that his words about the IPO commitment should not be taken at the face value.
He also did not fail to mention that Flipkart is still not a standalone profitable entity but reminded that the business is growing at a good rate.
Walmart has stated that currently the Bengaluru based e commerce company is spearheading company’s e commerce sales in international segment.
Off late, the word ‘IPO’ has become a buzzword in the Indian startup fraternity in the wake of growing pressure from investors, who are vying for profitable exits. Among them three major SoftBank backed startups – Oyo, Ola and Paytm – are planning to hit the capital market in the next couple of years.
Other startups that are vying for an IPO include Freshworks, Druva and Dream 11.
But in the aftermath of WeWork’s IPO debacle and lackluster response to Uber’s public issue, Indian startups including Flipkart can ill afford to get complacent about their profit and revenue numbers. In other words, investors will give huge thumbs down to IPOs of those startups whose balance sheets are weak.
