Walmart’s PhonePe halts India IPO plan as market slump deepens
The company says it will resume once the global capital markets stabilise
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[BENGALURU] Walmart-backed PhonePe has deferred its listing plans, becoming one of the first Indian companies to put an initial public offering on hold amid geopolitical tensions and a sharp downturn in equity markets.
The Bengaluru-based fintech company on Monday (Mar 16) said that it has temporarily paused its debut on the public market and will resume the process once the global capital markets stabilise.
PhonePe had been preparing for an initial share sale that could have raised as much as US$1.5 billion, sources said earlier.
India’s Nifty 50 Index has tumbled more than 7 per cent so far in March 2026 – putting it on track for its worst monthly performance since March 2020 – amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The slump has dampened investor sentiment and prompted companies to reassess fundraising.
PhonePe is the largest player on India’s Unified Payments Interface, handling nearly 50 per cent of total transactions on the platform.
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Walmart owns about 71.8 per cent of the company and had planned to sell as many as 45.9 million shares in the offering, representing about 9 per cent of the share capital. BLOOMBERG
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