Flipkart tried to buy a stake in Swiggy to compete against Zepto, Blinkit: Report

Walmart-owned Flipkart considered buying a stake in food delivery platform Swiggy about eight-ten months ago, but the talks fizzled out due to a valuation mismatch. The talks were part of Flipkart's efforts to take on quick commerce players such as Zepto and Blinkit, according to an Economic Times report. HT couldn't independently verify the information. A Swiggy spokesperson has denied that any such talks took place.

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The Prosus angle in the Swiggy IPO

Prosus, the largest investor in Swiggy with a 33% stake, was part of the negotiations, according to the report. The Dutch-listed investment arm of South African conglomerate Naspers has invested around $1 billion in Swiggy. It has been trying to bring its holding below 26% from the current 33% because otherwise Prosus will be tagged as a ‘promoter’ during Swiggy’s IPO as per Indian rules, which state that a shareholder with a stake of 26% or more is termed a promoter.

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Swiggy was last valued at $10.7 billion following its $700 million funding round in January 2022. In comparison, larger rival Zomato has a market capitalisation of over $20 billion. Zomato listed on the Indian stock market in 2021. It's shares have risen more than 59% in the three years since listing.

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Swiggy in April filed its draft IPO application with the market regulator. Before that, it secured shareholders’ approval for a ₹10,400 crore public issue–which will include ₹3,750 crore of fresh shares and an offer for sale (OFS) of shares worth ₹6,664 crore ($800 million) by existing shareholders.