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Waiting for the right time for Flipkart IPO: Walmart International CEO 

Showing optimism towards the Indian market, McLay said that there are strong growth opportunities in both Flipkart and PhonePe.

Walmart, Flipkart’s parent, told investors in an investor call that the company is evaluating the eight-time launch of an IPO. 

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While highlighting that Flipkart is doing really well and it turned EBITDA positive for the last 2 quarters, Kathryn McLay, president and CEO, Walmart's International, said, “And we are looking and exploring when will be the right time to IPO that business (Flipkart).” 

Showing optimism towards the Indian market, McLay said that there are strong growth opportunities in both Flipkart and PhonePe. Walmart owns fashion web Myntra, payments behemoth PhonePe, and the e-commerce site Flipkart in India. 

At the investor call, chief financial officer John David Rainey of Walmart said, “For marketplace, within international, all markets grew double-digits, led by Flipkart and Walmex, reflecting the strength we're experiencing across markets.” 

In Q1 FY25, the company's revenue increased by 6 percent to $161.51 billion, up from $152.3 billion in the previous fiscal year's corresponding quarter, surpassing estimates and delivering robust results. 

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Talks about Flipkart’s IPO have been going on for a while. Speaking to Moneycontrol recently, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said that the company didn’t have a discussion with their board about the same. 

Meanwhile, the Economic Times reported that Flipkart is shifting its domicile from Singapore to India. As per the report, the Walmart-owned online retailer has been talking about this change internally with top leadership, and plans are probably going to pick up steam in the upcoming months. 

The report says that the company’s goal of an initial public offering (IPO) is connected to its aspirations to relocate its domicile to India. While Flipkart is not planning to go public this year, as per sources who spoke to the Economic Times, “recent consumer company IPOs have shown the appetite for large consumer businesses on domestic bourses, and the consideration to move its holding company to India is part of that. Flipkart has been sharpening its strategies to get to profitability.” 

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