Here’s what may transpire if Amazon’s rival Flipkart lists IPO in 2018

Key Highlights

• Flipkart may list its IPO on Nasdaq sometime in 2018.
• The company was working on due-diligence on its IPO for over a year now.
• Flipkart recently concluded its ESOP repurchase program.

Homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart has been rumoured to list its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq in 2018. The e-commerce player’s move to list its IPO on foreign shores may take its local war with Amazon on the US turf.

The company had begun due-diligence on its IPO, which would last 18-24 months, a report by Business Standard said in January 2017.

“For more than a quarter, the company has been working on meeting requirements of a Nasdaq listing. An IPO is possible in the next 12-18 months," Flipkart’s executive was quoted in the report.

Competition with its US rival, Amazon, is expected to be heated up, but this time on the US shores, a report by Reuters said.

The report cited another reason for listing Flipkart IPO on Nasdaq besides taking the competition with Amazon on foreign bourses.

A good reason for Flipkart to list ‘stateside’ was because valuations of tech companies were robust.

Flipkart’s valuation was recently trimmed by Mutual fund investor Valic Co to $7.9 billion. After receiving $4 billion in funding from Softbank and Chinese internet giant, Tencent the firm was valued at $11.6 billion after this round of funding.

Softbank that has plans to dominate the online consumer market, also reportedly made a proposition to buy Flipkart’s shares from the e-commerce giant’s investors and former employees, a report by Live Mint said.

The company recently concluded its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) repurchase program, it said on December 13. Flipkart said more than 3,000 current and former employees of Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong and PhonePe took part in the stock repurchase program.

"This also marks the fourth instance in the past five years when Flipkart has given its ESOP holders an opportunity to encash a percentage of their vested stock options, an unparalleled feat among startups and private companies in India," Flipkart said. 

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