NEW DELHI – Walmart-backed e-commerce giant, Flipkart Group has modified its board of directors before its plans to go public.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart The Group will join the board starting next year along with other new directors including Keki Mistry, VC and HDFC CEO, two Walmart directors: Global CTO and Chief Development Officer, Suresh Kumar and Leigh Hopkins, Executive Vice President of Strategy and development at Walmart International.
People close to Flipkart ignored the development as a matter of course, but sources said this could be in preparation for the digital retailer’s much-hyped IPO that is expected to take place within two years.
Steuart Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Dirk Van den Berghe, executive vice president of Walmart Asia, Rajesh Magow, Makemytrip co-founder and independent director, Rohit Bhagat will step down from the board, according to a statement from Flipkart to its employees. this week.
While Judith McKenna, President and CEO of Walmart International will retain her position as chair of the board, American investor and former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel along with Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal will remain on board.
The move, coming days after Flipkart spun off its payments arm PhonePe, will see Magow take on an advisory role, while Bhagat will assume responsibilities as chairman of the PhonePe board.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart, which is the world’s largest retailer by sales, had invested $ 16 billion in 2018 to acquire a majority stake in Flipkart, valuing the company at around $ 21 billion. He currently owns an 82% stake in Flipkart along with other investors.
In July, Walmart led a $ 1.2 billion investment in Flipkart, which valued the company at around $ 25 billion. This was Flipkart’s largest fundraiser since its acquisition by the American retailer two years ago.
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