PhonePe, the Walmart-backed payments platform that sits at the centre of India's Unified Payments Interface ecosystem, is targeting a valuation of between $9 billion and $10.5 billion in a planned Indian public offering, with the company seeking to raise between $900 million and $1.05 billion through the listing. The transaction would rank as India's second-largest fintech IPO on record, eclipsed only by Paytm's 2021 listing, which valued that company at about $20 billion.
PhonePe has 657 million registered users and serves 47 million merchants.
VALUATION AND OFFER STRUCTURE
The proposed valuation range of $9 billion to $10.5 billion is below the $12 billion at which PhonePe was valued in a 2023 private funding round.
The IPO is structured entirely as an offer for sale by existing shareholders: Walmart plans to trim its stake, while Tiger Global and Microsoft plan to exit their holdings. Because PhonePe will not issue any new shares, the proceeds will go to the selling shareholders rather than to the company.
REGULATORY APPROVAL
PhonePe received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for the IPO in January. UPI transactions carry no merchant discount rate for most categories.