PhonePe IPO: Walmart-backed firm likely to file DRHP for $1.5 billion issue in August, says report

PhonePe IPO: Digital payments major PhonePe, which is backed by retail corporation Walmart Inc, is all set to start the initial public offering process.

It has picked Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley as merchant bankers.

In February, PhonePe, which is a financial services arm of Walmart-controlled online retailer Flipkart, said that it is preparing for its potential IPO

"The company is commencing preparatory steps in connection with its potential IPO and plans to list on Indian exchanges. This marks a significant milestone for the company, which will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this year, and has grown to serve hundreds of millions of customers with innovative financial services and technology solutions," PhonePe said in a statement.

In December 2022, PhonePe had changed its legal domicile from Singapore to India after paying around ₹8,000 crore in taxes to the government. In its annual report, the company said it redomiciled because it strongly believes that as a homegrown Indian fintech company, it should eventually list in the Indian bourses.

"Our investors, led by Walmart, paid almost ₹8,000 crore (close to USD 1 billion) in taxes to the Indian government to accept PhonePe's domicile shift to India," the report said.

As of March 2024, FIT Holdings SARL, a Luxembourg-based company of Walmart, held 83.91% stake in PhonePe, General Atlantic Singapore held 5.14%, and Phonepe's Singapore unit held 6.7%.

Other investors include Microsoft, Ribbit Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, Tencent, TVS Capital Funds, 3State, Tiger Global and Willoughby.

PhonePe's competitor Paytm was the first financial technology firm to get listed on the Indian stock exchange at the share price of ₹1,950 apiece, down 9% from the issue price of ₹2,150. Currently, the stock is down 58.92% from the issue price.

Another fintech company Mobikwik Ltd was debuted in December 2024 at ₹440 a unit on the NSE at a premium of 57.71% over the issue price of ₹279 apiece. It is currently down 14.9% from the issue price.