PhonePe: Walmart’s little-noticed surprise

When Walmart Inc paid $16 billion for control of India’s e-commerce pioneer Flipkart Online Services Pvt last year, the American retail giant got a little-noticed digital payments subsidiary as part of the deal.

Now the business is emerging as one of India’s top start-ups, a surprise benefit for Walmart from its largest-ever acquisition.

‘Under appreciated’

Flipkart’s board recently authorised the PhonePe Pvt Ltd unit to become a new entity and explore raising $1 billion from outside investors at a valuation of as much as $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be named because the discussions are private.