By Dhanya Ann Thoppil
BANGALORE, India--Flipkart Internet Pvt., India's largest
e-commerce company by sales, said Saturday it has raised $700
million in a third round of financing this year as global investors
rush to get a piece of India's growing online market.
The Bangalore-based company said it raised funds from existing
investors such as DST Global, run by Russian billionaire Yuri
Milner, U.S.-based Tiger Global Management and Singapore
sovereign-wealth fund GIC, along with new backers such as
Scotland-based independent investment firm Baillie Gifford and Hong
Kong's Steadview Capital.
The funds will be used to make "long-term strategic investments"
in India and to build "a world class technology company," Flipkart
said in a statement. The company didn't elaborate.
The funding comes as competition heats up in India's e-commerce
market that, while still relatively small, is growing rapidly,
fueled by the spread of smartphones and inexpensive
Internet-subscription fees.
In July, Flipkart raised $1 billion from investors, valuing the
company at about $7 billion. Shortly afterward, U.S. online
retailer Amazon.com Inc. said it would invest $2 billion in its
India operations.
In October, Snapdeal, another large online marketplace, said it
raised more than $600 million from Japan's SoftBank Corp. and other
investors, valuing the company at about $2 billion.
This latest round of funding values Flipkart at more than $10
billion, said Ashish Jhalani, founder of eTailing India, a retail
and e-commerce advisory and research firm. Mr. Jhalani said
Flipkart's funding underscores investors' faith in India's
e-commerce market and wipes away concerns of a bubble in the
sector.
"E-commerce is here to stay. The investor community is proving
that by giving such large valuations to the bigger boys again and
again," he said.
On Saturday, the company also said its parent, Flipkart Ltd.,
incorporated in Singapore, has filed with the city state's
Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority to convert into a
public company.
Flipkart said the filing is a mandatory procedure for all
companies that have more than 50 shareholders to ensure compliance
with the laws of Singapore.
This "is in no way indicative of any upcoming initial public
offering or of any corporate activity that the company is engaged
in either in Singapore or any other part of the world," the company
said.
Write to Dhanya Ann Thoppil at dhanya.thoppil@wsj.com
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