Walmart Inc. has hired Goldman Sachs to explore an initial public share sale of about 25% of its stake in Flipkart in the US to raise around $10 billion (Rs 73,720 crore).
If successful, this would be the largest overseas listing for an Indian company, a Mint report said citing two people directly aware of the development.
The IPO would be priced at more than double the valuation of Flipkart at what it was bought a couple of years back. The US retailer had pledged to take Flipkart public in four years after it bought a 77% stake for $16 billion in 2018.
Online transactions in India have surged after the coronavirus outbreak as people largely stayed indoors and avoided crowded markets and department stores.
In July, Flipkart raised $1.2 billion in a round of funding led by Walmart at a valuation of $24.9 billion.
The IPO proceeds may be used for business expansion.
Meanwhile, private equity major Actis Llp is looking to acquire highways infrastructure firm Ashoka Concessions Ltd through its yield-based fund, Actis Long Life Infrastructure Fund, at an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion (Rs 8,846 crore), a Mint report said citing two people aware of the development.
Ashoka Concessions’ roads portfolio comprises 15 assets -- six operational build, operate, transfer (BOT) toll projects, one operational BOT annuity project and eight under-construction hybrid annuity projects, which will together have an equity value of about $350 million (Rs 2,580 crore), the two people cited above said.
Also, The Walt Disney Company is considering multiple options to offload its 30% stake in direct-to-home company Tata Sky, The Economic Times said citing two people with direct knowledge of the development.
Disney’s initial offer to sell its stake to Tatas didn’t fructify. “Now they are working on an IPO option. The two companies have also agreed on an option of Disney selling a partial stake to a strategic investor in the US and work on that front has also begun,” one of the persons said.
In February 2019, it was reported that Temasek Holdings and Tata Opportunities Fund are looking to sell their stake in the company at a valuation of up to $3 billion.
In another development, Ashok Kumar Tyagi, whole-time director at realty firm DLF Ltd told The Economic Times that it will make its rental yielding commercial assets ready for a real estate investment trust (REIT) by March 2022.
“The decision on listing will be taken by both the stakeholders—DLF and GIC. The proceeds will be used to retire debt, which currently stands at Rs 19,500 crore,” Tyagi said.
Close to 38 million square feet of rental-yielding assets (33.8 million sq ft operational and 4 million sq ft under-construction) of DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd, a joint venture between DLF and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, will be put under REIT.
Also, a senior official told The Economic Times that state-run non-banking finance company IFCI Ltd, in which the government currently holds 61.2% stake, may be put up for strategic sale with a transfer of management control.
“It is a low-hanging fruit and its divestment can be done more easily than other state-run companies,” the official added.
A senior executive with IFCI, however, said there may not be many takers for the firm, given gross bad loans of around Rs 10,000 crore and a credit portfolio of just over Rs 17,000 crore.
