PhonePe receives Sebi nod for IPO

Walmart-backed payments major PhonePe has reportedly received Sebi’s approval for its IPO, after having confidentially filed its draft papers in September. As per sources, PhonePe is likely to file an updated Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) on Sebi’s website in the next few days, while the listing timeline is being tracked around March–April.

Notably, the proposed IPO is expected to be largely an Offer for Sale (OFS), with no fresh issue component. Existing shareholders such as Walmart, Microsoft and Tiger Global are expected to participate as selling shareholders, and the OFS size is being seen at around 10% of the equity. The total fundraising is estimated at around Rs. 11,000–12,000 crore, though final valuation and pricing will depend on market conditions and anchor participation.

PhonePe has been preparing for a listing for several months. In February 2025, it appointed JP Morgan, Citi India, Morgan Stanley and Kotak Mahindra Capital as merchant bankers. In April, the company transitioned from a private limited entity to a public company. It had also completed a major structural shift earlier—moving its domicile from Singapore to India in 2022, a move that reportedly involved a tax payout of around Rs. 8,000 crore.

On the financial front, PhonePe’s consolidated revenue from operations grew 41% to Rs. 7,148.6 crore in FY25 from Rs. 5,064.1 crore in FY24. While costs remained high, the pace of cost increase was lower than revenue growth, helping the company narrow its consolidated loss after tax to Rs. 1,727.4 crore from Rs. 1,996.2 crore in the previous year.

Founded in December 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe is a Walmart Inc. subsidiary. Apart from its core payments business, the platform has expanded into insurance, lending and wealth management, and has also launched consumer tech offerings such as Pincode and the Indus Appstore. PhonePe has raised close to $1 billion from investors including General Atlantic and Tiger Global, and was valued at $12 billion in its last major funding round in 2023. The platform claims over 600 million registered users and provides payment solutions to nearly 50 million merchants.