Walmart-backed Flipkart has received in-principle approval from a Singapore court to shift its headquarters back to India as the company prepares to file for an initial public offering (IPO) on Indian stock exchanges as soon as next year, TechCrunch reported.
The e-commerce startup, which began its operations in 2007 in Bengaluru, moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2011 because of the friendlier tax regime, ease of getting foreign investments and simpler processes for public debuts on foreign exchanges.
However, Flipkart is now in advanced stages of getting key regulatory clearances for relocating its domicile back to India from Singapore, with the transition expected to be completed in the next “couple of months”.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has also held several hearings in connection with Flipkart’s reverse flip plea. Relocating its base is critical for the e-commerce major as it plans a public listing as early as 2026.
In 2022, Flipkart’s sister company PhonePe relocated its headquarters from Singapore to India. Last week, the digital payments firm filed a confidential draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an IPO worth Rs 12,000 crore.
Over the past few months, several new-age tech startups — including Groww, Zepto, Meesho, Pine Labs and Dream Sports — have redomiciled to India from overseas, driven by better listing prospects and regulatory ease. The prospects for Flipkart’s IPO look good as public markets see heightened interest from domestic investors. According to a Goldman Sachs report, IPOs contributed $19 billion to the volumes of equity deals in India that reached a record $70 billion last year. “Three-quarters of the capital funding the 2024 IPOs was domestic, compared to a quarter three years earlier,” the report said.
Flipkart Under Pressure To Rein In Losses
One of the more immediate challenges facing Flipkart as it gears up for an IPO is that profitability continues to elude the e-commerce company. Financial statements of Flipkart Group entities sourced from the Registrar of Companies showed that Flipkart Internet, the core marketplace arm of Flipkart, in-house logistics arm Ekart and online travel portal Cleartrip continued to be loss-making in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25).
Flipkart Internet reported a net loss of Rs 1,494 crore, while Cleartrip posted a loss of Rs 651 crore. A standout performer among various Flipkart Group companies is e-commerce fashion platform Myntra, which reported a net profit of Rs 548 crore in FY25, a sharp increase from Rs 31 crore in the preceding financial year. Furthermore, revenue growth was muted in the range of 13-18% across Flipkart Group companies, with the exception of Cleartrip.
The financials paint a telling picture: even after nearly two decades of operations in India, the e-commerce startup continues to struggle on the profitability front….
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