Walmart-backed Indian payments firm PhonePe has received regulatory approval for its stock market listing after confidentially filing draft papers with the market regulator in September, a person with direct knowledge of the development told Mint on Tuesday.
The initial public offering (IPO) will not include a fresh issue of shares. Existing investors, including Walmart, Microsoft and Tiger Global, are expected to participate as selling shareholders, with the offer for sale likely to be around 10%, the person said.
PhonePe is expected to file its updated draft red herring prospectus on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) website in the next few days. Details on valuation and pricing are yet to be finalized and will depend on factors such as anchor allotment, the person added. The listing is likely to take place around March or April.
PhonePe is expected to raise ₹11,000-12,000 crore largely through an offer for sale, Mint had earlier reported.
The company has been gearing up for a public listing for several months. In February 2025, it appointed JP Morgan, Citi India, Morgan Stanley, and Kotak Mahindra Capital as merchant bankers to manage the IPO. In April, it transitioned from a private firm to a public company.
It also restructured itself. In 2022, it shifted its domicile from Singapore to India, becoming the first Indian company to do so. The move involved a tax payment of about ₹8,000 crore to the Indian government.
On a consolidated basis, PhonePe's revenue from operations rose 41% to ₹7,148.6 crore in FY25 from ₹5,064.1 crore in the previous year, according to filings with the ministry of corporate affairs. While costs continued to grow, the pace was slower than the top-line expansion, helping PhonePe cut its consolidated loss after tax to ₹1,727.4 crore from ₹1,996.2 crore a year ago.
Founded in December 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe is a subsidiary of Walmart Inc. Beyond its core payments business, it has expanded into insurance, lending, and wealth management, besides opening consumer tech platforms such as Pincode and the Indus Appstore.
It has raised close to $1 billion so far from investors including General Atlantic and Tiger Global, and was valued at $12 billion in its most recent funding round in 2023.
PhonePe has more than 600 million registered users and offers payments solutions for nearly 50 million merchants.
