MC EXCLUSIVE Walmart-owned Flipkart kickstarts early discussions with i-banks for India IPO

US retail giant Walmart , which became the first traditional retailer to hit a $1 trillion market valuation in early February, holds a substantial majority stake in Flipkart

• Flipkart starts talks with banks for a potential India IPO.
• IPO may launch by late 2026 or early 2027, size undecided.
• Walmart, Softbank, and Google are key Flipkart stakeholders.

Did our AI summary help?

Walmart - owned Flipkart has initiated preliminary discussions with select investment banks as the e-commerce major led by CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy gears up for one of the most eagerly anticipated listings in India Inc, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.

“ The formal pitches per se haven’t begun yet but for now, Flipkart has started selectively engaging with a few firms including Goldman Sachs, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan among others, to assess the feasibility of the proposed initial public offer ( IPO), “ said one of the persons above.

A second person told Moneycontrol, “ The deal kick-off and the final syndicate of advisors is still some time away and a final decision on the road ahead will be taken only post an approval from the Flipkart board.”

According to a third person, “ These are exploratory talks where the demand levels, kind of investors and appetite for such a big deal will be assessed. The wheels have started moving internally for sure.”

A fourth person familiar with the firm’s plans added, “ It’s too early to talk about the proposed size of the IPO and the timing of the launch, which may be by 2026 end or early 2027, but a significant part of the issue is likely to be primary in nature.”

All the four persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Email queries to Walmart and Flipkart remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article.

When contacted, Goldman Sachs declined to comment. An immediate comment couldn’t be elicited from the other investment banks. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the firms.

US retail giant Walmart , which became the first traditional retailer to hit a $1 trillion market valuation in early February, holds a substantial majority stake in Flipkart and the firm’s cap table also includes marquee names like Softbank, Google and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board ( CPPIB).

In December, Moneycontrol reported that the firm had received a key approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to shift its holding company domicile from Singapore back to India,  marking a major milestone in the roadmap towards a domestic initial public offering.

The nod followed Flipkart’s disclosure that it was working towards relocating its legal base to India to better align its corporate structure with its core operations and business footprint, which are overwhelmingly domestic.

In the February 20 issue of Forbes India, Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, focused on building an AI-first Flipkart, said in an interview , “ We are not building this company just for an IPO, and it is not a destination for me personally. The way I look at it is: Are we ready for the responsibilities and stakeholder complexity once we are public and are we ready with a future-proof business? To me, what happens after an IPO is more important. For that, we need a strong leadership team, a predictable business that is not dependent on a particular customer segment, category or individuals.”

The Flipkart Group includes group companies Flipkart, Myntra, Flipkart Wholesale, Cleartrip, and super.money.

As per its website, the firm was established in 2007 and has enabled millions of sellers, merchants, and small businesses to participate in India's digital commerce revolution. With a registered user base of more than 500 million, Flipkart’s marketplace offers over 150 million products across 80+ categories, with over 1.4 million sellers on the platform, including Shopsy sellers.

Recently, Flipkart , with revenues of Rs 83,105 crore in 2025, was amongst the top firms in the inaugural edition of  “JM Financial Hurun India Unlisted Gems 2026” , a curated list of high-potential companies with the scale and performance characteristics aligned with public market entry.

Incidentally, another arm of Walmart is pursuing a listing in India.

In January, Walmart-owned digital payments and financial services major PhonePe received the nod from market regulator Sebi for an IPO

Earlier on September 24, Moneycontrol was the first to report that PhonePe had filed draft papers via the confidential route to raise around Rs 12,000 crore ( $1.35 bn) through a pure OFS or offer for sale.

Walmart, Tiger Global and Microsoft are the three shareholders looking to participate in the offer for sale, which will involve a combined dilution of around 10 per cent stake, the report had added.