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Flipkart gets new directors ahead of IPO
Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and chief executive of mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC); Walmart’s chief technology officer Suresh Kumar; and Leigh Hopkins, executive vice-president of strategy and development for Walmart International, will also join Flipkart’s board.
Flipkart has made several changes to its board, including naming group chief executive officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy as a director, as Walmart Inc.’s Indian unit readies itself for an initial share sale to take advantage of booming online sales that has boosted valuations.
Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and chief executive of mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC); Walmart’s chief technology officer Suresh Kumar; and Leigh Hopkins, executive vice-president of strategy and development for Walmart International, will also join Flipkart’s board.
The new appointments come days after Flipkart’s digital payments unit PhonePe was separated from the parent as part of steps to take Flipkart public. The pandemic has led to millions of new customers, a bulk of them from small cities and towns, purchasing goods from online platforms for the first time, boosting sales and valuations of e-commerce firms.
In an email this week, Krishnamurthy told staff that the new board members will replace Steuart Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam; Dirk Van den Berghe, executive vice-president of Walmart Asia; Makemytrip co-founder Rajesh Magow and PhonePe co-founder Rohit Bhagat.
While Berghe is retiring in March, the other three are stepping down. Bhagat has joined PhonePe board as chairperson and Magow will take on an advisory role.
“I wanted to also let you know that this new year will see some changes to our board as a number of our current directors will be stepping down after steering us through the first two years following Walmart’s investment,” Krishnamurthy said in his email, a copy of which was reviewed by Mint.
In 2018, Walmart acquired a majority stake in Flipkart for $16 billion, valuing the Indian company at $21 billion. At the time, Walmart chief exeucitve Doug McMillion said he wants to take Flipkart public in as early as four years after the closing of the acquisition.
Steuart Walton had joined the board following Walmart’s investment.
“Steuart has combined his Flipkart duties with those of being a Walmart director, and he is stepping down from the Flipkart board to be able to focus more on these, including his role as chair of the Walmart board’s tech panel, which will mean that he will continue to be able to be an active sponsor for Flipkart,” Krishnamurthy said.
The other member on the current Flipkart board is co-founder Binny Bansal, who has also joined the PhonePe board, which has co-founders Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Rohit Bhagat.
