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Walmart, Microsoft, Tiger Global to sell PhonePe shares in IPO
Walmart, Microsoft, and Tiger Global plan to sell about 50.7 million shares of PhonePe in its upcoming IPO in India, according to a draft prospectus dated January 21.
PhonePe, an Indian payments company, has received regulatory approval for the listing after filing confidentially in September.
The company is not issuing new shares and will not receive any proceeds from the sale.
In the six months ending September 30, PhonePe reported a widened loss of 14.4 billion rupees (US$157.8 million) from 12 billion rupees (US$131 million).
Revenue increased by about 22% to 39.2 billion rupees (US$428.2 million).
Lead managers for the IPO include Kotak Mahindra Capital, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies.
🔗 Source: Reuters
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Key IPO details remain unconfirmed
- The total number of PhonePe shares has to be spelled out so the weight of the 50.7 million shares sold by holders like Walmart, Microsoft, and Tiger Global can be judged.
- An indicative valuation has to be verified because it sets expectations for deal size and pricing. Past reports have put it around $15 billion 1.
- A route to statutory profitability has to be reviewed. The filing reports a wider half-year loss of 14.44 billion rupees, while other reports cite higher adjusted profit that excludes costs like employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) 1.
Regulatory overhang could create openings for rivals
- Rival payment apps can use the repeated delay of the 30% Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market share cap to December 2026 to win users and convince backers 2.
- Smaller players can lean on rules risk tied to PhonePe’s scale. It holds over 45% market share by UPI transaction volume, which keeps it in regulators’ sights 3.
- The IPO is structured as a secondary sale so no new shares are issued and PhonePe gets no proceeds. That can push the company to earn more from its current users, which may let B2B fintechs team up with competitors on lending or insurance.
