A group of former Flipkart executives has launched a petition to get around 20,000-30,000 other former employees of the platform and its group companies together to push for their inclusion in the planned $2 billion ESOPs buyback, as per an Economic Times report today.
The executives are looking to bring together ex-employees of ANS Commerce, Cleartrip, , Myntra, Shopsy and Super Money together to push parent firm Walmart on their demands regarding the vested employee stock options ahead of the platform’s IPO, it added.
Walmart did not respond to queries, it said.
Why have they started a petition?
The petition on 10 October comes days after executives emailed ‘s board seeking a buyout of their ESOPs. The report said that in response, the US-based company’s legal counsel said former employees will be considered as part of liquidity in Flipkart’s IPO, but did not specify commitments.
In the petition, the employees said that lack of clear timeline could leave them in limbo for years till the comes to fruition. They added that this is a request for dialogue rather than legal notice or claim, the report added citing a source.
What are former Flipkart employees demanding?
Bloomberg on 9 October reported that a group of former Flipkart executives urged Walmart to buy out their stock options, seeking to cash in while the US retailer weighs options including a separate listing for the India e-commerce operator.
With no visibility regarding the timing of the IPO, a group of eight former C-suite and senior executives said a purchase of their shares by would allow them to liquidate their holdings. The former executives appealed to Walmart’s board in a letter seen by Bloomberg News and earlier reported by the Economic Times, it said.
The ex-employees said they’ve held the stock options for as many as 15 years in some cases. Current Flipkart employees were offered the opportunity this year to sell stock options, the group said.
“We appreciate the perspective of all — current and former — and value their feedback. As with anything raised, we take it seriously,” Walmart told Bloomberg in a statement.
Flipkart says IPO is a target for company
Flipkart was founded in Bangalore in 2007 by two former Amazon.com Inc. engineers, Sachin Bansal and (who are not related). Just like Amazon, they began by selling books online before expanding to more expensive products such as electronics and smartphones, the report said.
In 2018, Walmart acquired a controlling stake in the company for $16 billion — its biggest-ever deal, bringing its high-stakes battle for online retail supremacy with Amazon to India. sold off his entire stake to Walmart and left. Binny too exited within months and sold off his remaining shares by 2023, it added.
has said that its priority is to serve customers, and that an IPO is a target for the company. “An IPO remains an active part of our strategic roadmap, and we will move forward when the timing is right. By focusing on readiness today, we can ensure that when we are ready to make our public debut, we do so from a position of clear operational and financial strength,” Flipkart and Walmart said in a joint statement last month.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)