Flipkart partially spins off PhonePe; Binny Bansal to join board

E-commerce major Flipkart on Thursday announced a “partial spin-off” of PhonePe as the digital payment firm raises $700 million in funding, valuing it at $5.5 billion.

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal will join PhonePe’s board of directors, along with the fintech company’s co-founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari.

In this financing round, PhonePe is raising $700 million (about Rs 5,172 crore) in primary capital at a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion from existing Flipkart investors, led by Walmart, a statement said.

Flipkart will remain PhonePe’s majority shareholder, and the two businesses will retain their close collaboration, the statement added.

Flipkart will own 87 per cent majority share in the hived-off entity with US-retail giant Walmart owning 10 per cent and existing investors, including Tiger Global Management, holding the remaining 3 per cent stake, a PhonePe spokesperson told PTI.