When Walmart got a $10 billion Phone Pe surprise after buying Flipkart

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 the country’s top startups, a surprise benefit for Walmart from its largest-ever acquisition.

Flipkart’s board recently authorized 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. The funding may close in the next couple of months, although the talks are not finalised and terms could still change, they said.