Walmart’s Flipkart shifts base to India as it prepares for IPO

MUMBAI, March 9 (Reuters) – Walmart’s Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart has shifted its holding company to India from Singapore, the company said on Monday, paving the way for its planned stock market listing in the country.

The firm joins dozens of Indian startups that once chose to be based abroad for better access to capital and smaller tax bills but are now queuing to return home from financial hubs such as Singapore due to better IPO prospects in the country.

In a statement, Flipkart said it has received the Indian government’s approval for its internal restructuring and it has now completed its “redomiciliation” to India, calling it “a significant milestone”.

Flipkart, which started in 2007 by selling books online, expanded into a behemoth that competes with Amazon.com Inc in India. It moved its holding company to Singapore in 2011. Walmart bought a controlling stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion.

Flipkart was last valued in 2024 at around $37 billion, when Alphabet’s Google picked up a $350 million minority stake in it. 

The company is aiming to list in Mumbai before March 2027, though it has yet to firm up its valuation for the IPO or its size, said a source with direct knowledge.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Chizu Nomiyama )