New Delhi, March 9 -- PhonePe, the fintech giant backed byWalmart, is preparing for a major initial public offering, aiming for a valuation of up to $10.5 billion (around Rs.97,000 crore). This would be lower than the $12 billion valuation at which PhonePe last raised $100 million from private equity investors in 2023.

The IPO will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS), with existing investors including WM Digital, Microsoft Global Finance, and Tiger Global planning to sell shares. PhonePe itself will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, the core objectives of which are to list the company on the stock exchanges and to facilitate the OFS.

For investors, though, the main question is how PhonePe actually compares with Paytm, its closest r...