Flipkart’s valuation marked down by investors for the eighth time

Photo credit: 123rf

India’s unicorn Flipkart has suffered yet another markdown from two of its American Mutual Fund investors Fidelity and Valic. This is the second time this year that the investors have cut the valuation of the Bangalore-based company.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fidelity Investments lowered the value of its Flipkart shares by 3.2 percent, while Valic slashed the worth of its investment by a harsh 11.3 percent.

Specifically, Fidelity slashed the value of Flipkart shares from $84.29 in May to US$81.55 in August. Valic cut down the valuation from $108 in May to $95.84 for the same period. Flipkart did not respond to an email query sent by Tech in Asia.

This is the eighth time that Flipkart has been marked down by its investors. With this markdown, Fidelity values the company at US$8.71 billion, and Valic positions the Indian ecommerce giant at US$10.24 billion.

In February, Fidelity lowered the value of Flipkart shares by almost 40 percent from US$135.8 to US$82 a share in August 2015, and Valic had brought down the valuation by 29 percent from US$139 a piece to US$98.19. During the February markdown, Flipkart was valued at US$8.80 billion and US$10.50 by Fidelity and Valic respectively.

But the same investors raised Flipkart’s valuation in August, pegging the company’s worth at US$9 billion and US$11.5 billion.

Binny Bansal (left) and Sachin Bansal are the two co-founders of India’s top homegrown ecommerce startup. Photo credit: Flipkart.

In the same month, Flipkart was marked down by Morgan Stanley which eroded its valuation for the third time by 4 percent, at US$9 billion.

Mutual funds managed by Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price have also slashed their valuation of the company twice; while Vanguard Group, Fidelity, and Valic have each lowered the value once before as well.

See: India’s failed ecommerce pioneer on what ails Flipkart, Snapdeal

Markdown impact

Even though the markdowns are expected to impact the company’s fundraising efforts, Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal is dismissive of it. In July, after Morgan Stanley and T Rowe cut the company’s valuation, Bansal called it a ‘purely theoretical exercise’.

It’s expected to impact the company’s fundraising efforts.

Peer troubles