Walmart-owned Flipkart will undertake a buyback employee stock options worth about Rs 600 crore.
The company confirmed the development but did not disclose any details. Employees are granted options based on their tenure, performance and contributions to the company.
Earlier in the day, Flipkart announced raising $3.6 billion (about Rs 26,805.6 crore) in funding from a clutch of investors that valued the e-commerce major at $37.6 billion (about Rs 2.79 lakh crore).
Comment from CEO
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, “… it has always been our endeavour to provide our employees with an opportunity to liquidate their vested options regularly.
This year, we are pleased to announce a buyback of 5 per cent of the past three years’ vested options. With this landmark event for us, I am happy to share that we are offering our employees an additional buyback of 5 per cent of all vested options as we stay committed to wealth creation for you.”
In his e-mail, Krishnamurthy said the fund infusion received by Flipkart is “one of the most significant investments in the digital commerce ecosystem in India, reflecting the opportunity for digital commerce in India and the confidence of investors in our ability to address this potential”.
He added that about 6,000 people are expected to benefit from the buyback.
Fund raisal
Flipkart Group has raised $3.6 billion in funding led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart, valuing the e-commerce giant at $37.6 billion.
The current funding round has also seen participation from sovereign funds DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad as well as marquee investors Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton and Tiger Global.
With this deal, SoftBank is re-entering Flipkart’s cap table. SoftBank had sold its approximately 20 per cent share when Walmart bought a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018.
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