Walmart's Flipkart in early talks for U.S. listing via SPAC deal: sources

[March 04, 2021]  By Anirban Sen and Sankalp Phartiyal

(Reuters) - Walmart Inc-owned Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is exploring going public in the United States through a deal with a blank-check firm, although a traditional stock market listing is much more likely, people familiar with the matter said.

The logo of India's e-commerce firm Flipkart is seen in this illustration picture taken January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Illustration

The talks for a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) are at a very early stage and could fall apart as no plans have been finalized yet, said the people, who declined to be named as the information is confidential.

A growing number of Indian startups are considering the SPAC route to public markets as it involves less regulatory scrutiny and gives companies more certainty over the valuation that will be attained and the funds that will be raised.

India's largest renewable energy firm ReNew Power last month struck a deal with a blank-check company to go public in the United States, while SoftBank-backed online grocery startup Grofers has also held talks with SPACs.

At least a dozen more Indian tech and internet startups are expected to choose that route to the public markets over the next 6-12 months, investment bankers have told Reuters.

Reuters first reported in September that Bengaluru-based Flipkart was preparing for an initial public offering overseas as early as 2021, which could value the firm at as much as $50 billion.

Flipkart, which competes with Amazon.com's local unit and India's Reliance Industries, has already started talks with investment banks for its listing plans, the sources said.

Flipkart and Walmart did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Bloomberg reported Flipkart's latest plans earlier on Thursday.

(Reporting by Anirban Sen and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru, Sankalp Phartiyal in New Delhi and Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Derek Francis, Shubham Kalia and Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.