Walmart's Indian Subsidiary Flipkart Explores US Listing Via SPAC: Bloomberg - Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT)-owned Indian online retailer, Flipkart, is contemplating going public in the U.S., including special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger as one option, Bloomberg reports.
Flipkart has reportedly approached several SPACs and could seek a valuation of a minimum of $35 billion in a blank-check transaction. However, the initiatives are still at a nascent stage.
Flipkart becomes the next Indian firm after online grocer Grofers to contemplate a U.S. listing via SPAC. Last week, ReNew Power decided to merge with a U.S.-listed SPAC to create India’s biggest renewable power producer valued at $8 billion.
Merging with SPACs aids faster public listing of Flipkart in the U.S. compared to conventional IPOs. SPACs or shell companies raise money from the public offering for business acquisition within two years. A maximum of 10 Indian companies could go public via SPAC deals before 2021 end as per Utpal Oza, the head of investment banking for India at Nomura Holdings Inc.
Flipkart is already battling for e-commerce market share in India with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Mukesh Ambani’s retail venture.
Walmart acquired a majority stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018.
Price action: WMT shares are up 0.20% at $127.84 in the pre-market session on the last check Thursday.