Flipkart is taking a reverse flip to shift its domicile from Singapore to Gurugram. As it makes a fresh push to go public, the company has lined up a host of other changes that were crucial to meet the regulatory guidelines for foraying into the Indian capital market.

The $36 Bn ecommerce giant dusted off its IPO dream after parent Walmart last year gave it the go-ahead to list in the next 12-18 months. Flipkart went on to restructure its board and the leadership to make its mega IPO boom. It is, however, yet to accelerate its cost-cutting drive and work on its subsidiaries that are still making losses.

Walmart is wary of the challenges that Flipkart and arch rival Amazon India have faced from the regulators over the past few years, starting from allegations related to FEMA and FDI violations to abuse of competitive laws.

So it only makes sense for Flipkart to shift the narrative from being seen as a firm controlled by a US retailer to a homegrown company as it gears up for a fresh dash for the capital market.

Despite projecting itself as an Indian company, which makes it different from Amazon, Flipkart has long been dubbed by local retailer bodies and regulators as a foreign entity that could push the ubiquitous kirana stores out of business.

No wonder, Flipkart wanted to change that narrative. The decision to reverse flip from Singapore to India is aligned to its listing goals and to bypass further regulatory hurdles since more than 80% of it is owned by the US retail giant.

The company will have to cough up heavy taxes as was seen in the reverse flip by another Walmart subsidiary, PhonePe, which cost the payments unicorn $1 Bn as per most reports.

For Flipkart, the stakes involved and tax outgo is likely to be higher.

A $36 Bn privately held company listing on Indian stock exchanges is being seen as a seminal moment for the startup ecosystem. There’s also a loud buzz among industry insiders that the Flipkart float will be much bigger than that of Paytm’s or Swiggy’s, which were by far the largest IPOs by new-age companies.

A mega IPO of such magnitude means preparations have to be in full swing. Sources in the company shared that the employees have started getting feelers of stricter profit targets, foray into new verticals, and higher revenues.

Let’s delve deeper into Flipkart’s IPO playbook.

Flipkart’s Reshuffle

“Flipkart has been exploring new office spaces in Gurugram since December 2024. A 100-200-seater facility is what Flipkart has been looking for,” a senior executive at one of the real estate firms the company is talking to for its new office space, told Inc42.

Last year, the company took its first steps towards a potential IPO by strengthening its board. Flipkart brought in Dan Bartlett, Walmart executive VP for corporate affairs, as a director.

Bartlett had already been closely monitoring Flipkart operations since the 2018 takeover by Walmart, but this appointment was seen by many as one made with IPO on the horizon. At Walmart, Bartlett oversees public policy initiatives, corporate real estate, and leads sustainability programmes.

Around the same time, the Flipkart board brought back former SoftBank managing partner Lydia Jett, after closing a $1 Bn funding round led by Walmart in which Google also invested $350 Mn.

Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy rejigged the top deck at the ecommerce firm after a host of vertical heads, including that of travel booking platform Cleartrip, fintech payment app heads and growth initiative heads stepped down last year.

The company also trimmed its workforce by 5%-7% reportedly through a performance review exercise. The Flipkart leadership, particularly the SVPs, have been under tremendous pressure since last year to deliver that might have caused large-scale exits at senior levels.

An internal source, however, also indicated pressure from poaching by quick commerce rivals like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit.

© Inc42