Following the separation of PhonePe and Flipkart, employees of the e-commerce major who hold Flipkart ESOPs are being offered one-time cash payout, according to an internal email sent by Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
“This payout represents the value of the PhonePe holding within those Flipkart options. It will present an event for wealth creation for our employees that has been a continued commitment for Flipkart, and one that we will remain focused on. It is truly a testimony to the hard work of thousands of Flipkart and PhonePe employees,” Krishnamurthy added.
businessline has seen a copy of the email. Further, the new share price of Flipkart has been determined at $165.83 per options (previously $189.1), excluding the value of PhonePe. The payout to employees will, however, be at $43.67 per options, reflecting the increase in the market valuation of PhonePe. According to a source close to the development, the total cash payout will be around $700 million.
Digital payments major PhonePe is in talks to raise a $1 billion funding round led by General Atlantic, according to another source close to the development. This round is expected to close in the next 2-3 weeks and could value the company at $12 billion (pre-money). This would make PhonePe, the most valued fintech company.
Flipkart and PhonePe did not comment on this story.
Flipkart announced the full ownership separation of PhonePe on Friday. This completed the fintech major’s move to make PhonePe a fully India-domiciled company, a process that started earlier this year. As part of this transaction, existing Flipkart Singapore and PhonePe Singapore shareholders, led by Walmart, have purchased shares directly in PhonePe India. Walmart remains the majority shareholder of both business groups.