Tiger Global and Microsoft to fully exit Walmart-backed PhonePe via its IPO

Tiger Global and Microsoft are preparing to divest their entire stakes in PhonePe, the Indian payments platform backed by Walmart. This strategic exit comes as PhonePe updates its IPO filing, providing a glimpse into how global investors are navigating the current landscape of India's public markets. On Wednesday, PhonePe released its revised IPO prospectus, which outlines the number of shares that will be offered. Both Tiger Global and Microsoft plan to sell their full holdings, while Walmart intends to maintain its majority interest, putting up to 45.9 million shares—approximately 9% of the company—on the market. In total, the offering will include up to 50.66 million shares, signaling a significant liquidity event for current stakeholders. Initially valued at around $12 billion following a funding round in January 2023, PhonePe aims for a market capitalization of about $15 billion with this IPO, potentially raising up to $1.5 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. Notably, the share offering is primarily driven by existing investors rather than management sell-downs. Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe quickly gained traction after being acquired by Flipkart in 2016. Today, it stands as one of the leading fintech companies in India, originally focusing on digital payments but has since expanded its offerings to include stockbroking, mutual fund investments, and even an Android app store that competes with Google Play. As the largest entity in India's digital payments sector, PhonePe leads the UPI ecosystem in transaction volume, surpassing Google Pay. In December 2025, the platform processed approximately 9.81 billion transactions, totaling around ₹13.6 trillion (about $148.6 billion), while Google Pay handled 7.50 billion transactions worth roughly ₹9.6 trillion (around $104.5 billion), according to the latest data from NPCI. The company underwent a significant transformation when Flipkart initiated a partial spin-off in December 2020, culminating in a full separation in December 2022, with Walmart continuing as a major shareholder. In the six months leading up to September 2025, PhonePe reported a 22% increase in operational revenue to ₹39.19 billion (approximately $427.79 million), although its losses widened to ₹14.44 billion (around $157.70 million) from the previous year's ₹12.03 billion (about $131.34 million), as detailed in the prospectus.