Flipkart explored a deal with Swiggy for a pie of quick commerce
Flipkart explored a potential stake purchase in Swiggy about eight to ten months ago as two of India’s largest consumer internet firms sought to ally amid disruption set off by the rise of quick commerce, investors aware of the matter said. Once the talks fizzled out due to a valuation mismatch, Swiggy filed a confidential draft application in April to list on the public markets, they added.
Also present at the negotiations was Prosus—the largest investor in Swiggy with a 33% stake—which was keen to divest some of its holding, the sources said.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitIIT DelhiCertificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitIndian School of BusinessProfessional Certificate in Product ManagementVisit“There was a discussion for majority stake for Flipkart where Prosus and other investors would offload stake but besides valuation (mismatch), a majority stake (demand) was also a hurdle,” the person mentioned above said, adding that “discussions were verbal and there was no formal binding or non-binding offer on paper.”
A spokesperson for Swiggy denied the development.
“No such conversation/negotiation/discussion has ever taken place,” the spokesperson said in response to ET’s email query. Prosus and Flipkart did not respond to ET’s queries.
The discussion to strike a strategic alliance between Flipkart and Swiggy, although unsuccessful, underscores the changing consumer preference in India’s
