Achi news desk-
Flipkart is raising $1 billion in an ongoing fundraising round and has received a $600 million commitment from its parent company and US retail giant Walmart
Internet major Google plans to invest around $350 million (about Rs 2,900 crore) for a minority stake in e-commerce company Flipkart in a new funding round, Walmart Group’s Walmart said on Friday.
Flipkart is raising $1 billion in an ongoing funding round and has received a $600 million commitment from its parent company and US retail giant Walmart.
“As part of the latest funding round led by Walmart, Flipkart today announced that it will add Google as a minority investor, subject to receipt of regulatory and other approvals acceptable to both parties,” Flipkart said in a statement.
However, the e-commerce company did not disclose the amount offered for investment by Google or the details of the fund raised by the company.
“Google’s proposed investment and its cloud collaboration will help Flipkart expand its business and advance the modernization of its digital infrastructure to serve customers across the country,” Flipkart said.
A source said that the transaction during the ongoing round is expected to be carried out at a value of approximately 35 billion dollars.
Emails seeking comment from Google and Walmart on financial details of the investment commitments during the ongoing funding round did not elicit an immediate response, while Flipkart declined to comment.
Flipkart was valued at $35 billion as of January 31, 2024 based on equity deals made by its American parent Walmart.
The US retail giant in FY24 increased its stake by 10% to about 85% by paying $3.5 billion, raising Flipkart’s enterprise valuation to $35 billion.
A Flipkart source told PTI in March that the company’s GMV (gross merchandise value) grew by 25-28 percent year-on-year in the range of $29-30 billion in 2023, with festival sales being softer in 2022.
“In reality, if the valuation was done now for Flipkart, it would be in the range of $38-40 billion given the growth in GMV and near profitability. But no such valuation exercise has happened for Flipkart since 2021,” the source said.
Flipkart posted a net loss of Rs 4,846 crore and a consolidated net profit of Rs 56,012.8 crore in FY23. The total expenditure of the company was 60,858 million rupees during the reported financial year. – PTI
Published: 25 May 2024, 09:20 IST
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