Morgan Stanley lowers Flipkart valuation by 38% to $5.54 billion, fourth cut in nine months
The e-commerce company was valued at $15.2 billion when it last raised capital in July.
A mutual fund managed by Morgan Stanley on Tuesday lowered the valuation for the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart by 38% to $5.54 billion (approximately Rs 38,030 crore), the fourth such cut in nine months, Mint reported. The fund, Morgan Stanley Select Dimensions Investment Series, currently holds 1,969 shares of the company at a collective valuation of $102,644 (approximately Rs 704.62 crore).
The fund had previously made cuts to its valuation in February, May and June, Bloomberg reported. Two other investors in the company, Valic and Fidelity, slashed the value of the shares they hold in the company by 11.3% and 3.2% for the quarter ended in August. Flipkart was last valued at $15.2 billion (approximately Rs 1.04 lakh crore).
However, Flipkart said it was experiencing a “strong traction in our business momentum and operating performance”. “We continue to be focused on innovating for the customer, growing the market and executing on our long-term growth agenda,” the company said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The latest markdowns come at a time when the e-commerce company is in talks for a fresh round of funding. In September, it was reported that the company was in the final stages of talks with Walmart for a $1-billion (approximately Rs 6,855.5 crore) investment.
Earlier this month, Flipkart Chief Executive Officer Binny Bansal said the e-commerce platform would start experimenting with grocery sales in 2017 and would scale-up operations over a period of three years. He also said the company would relaunch its furniture store with more variety in the next three to four months.