Chinese giant Tencent buys stake in Flipkart from co-founder

Chinese tech behemoth Tencent has purchased a 0.72% stake in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart from its co-founder Binny Bansal. 

Tencent is one of the world's leading internet and technology companies that develops innovative products and services to improve the quality of life of its customers. One of the company's earliest and most notable products is Tencent QQ, one of the most popular instant messaging apps in China.

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It also manages WeChat, 5 different gaming studio groups (one of which manages PUBG), and manages its own studios for music, television, movies, music, and video streaming. It also manages its own eCommerce site called PaiPai and an online payment system called TenPay. 

According to official documents, the transaction was completed on 26th October 2021, and the government authorities were informed at the beginning of the current fiscal year. Binny Bansal sold 0.72% in Flipkart to the tech giant's European subsidiary, Tencent Cloud Europe BV, and is currently left with 1.84% in the company.  

The stake sold is estimated to be worth $264 million according to a valuation of $37.6 billion, the valuation at which Flipkart raised $3.6 billion recently from investors like Softbank, Walmart, GIC, and CPP. DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Tencent, Willoughby Capital, Antara Capital, Franklin Templeton, and Tiger Global also participated in the funding round in July 2021.

Binny Bansal, who had founded Flipkart alongside Sachin Bansal, resigned from Flipkart shortly after it was sold to Walmart in 2018. By the valuation provided earlier, Binny Bansal's 1.84% stake is currently valued at roughly $692 million. 

In April 2022, it was reported by anonymous sources that Flipkart had raised its valuation internally to $60-70 billion and was planning a US listing, since Flipkart is officially incorporated in Singapore, in 2023.

Article by Aman Agarwal. 

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