Mutual funds Valic and Fidelity mark down their Flipkart holdings

Mutual funds Valic and Fidelity has yet again marked down the value of their holdings in India’s most valuable startup Flipkart by 11.3 percent and 3.2 percent respectively. Notably, the news is coming in when the Bangalore-based e-tailer has been on a lookout for a fresh round of funding.

Valic has brought down its share value to $95.84 per unit for the August-ended quarter, from $108.04 assigned to them at the May-ended quarter, while Fidelity has brought it down to $81.55 per share for the August-ended quarter from $84.29 per share assigned to them at the end of May.

Interestingly, both the mutual funds had marked up their stakes in the previous quarter. With this current markdown, Flipkart’s valuation can range anywhere between the $8 billion and $10 billion mark. Both Valic and Fidelity were a part of the $360 million Series D round, which Flipkart had raised during its 2013 rapid funding spree.

Though in one of his previous interviews, Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal had said, “(Markdowns are) a theoretical exercise by small investors. From our perspective, valuation is when we raise money. From our perspective, valuation is when we raise money. When we raise money, our value will be clear in the market,” however, such markdowns by globally reputed Mutual Funds aren’t going to help the company raise funds at a valuation, higher than the $15 billion it achieved at its peak.

Even Morgan Stanley, one of the bigger mutual fund investors in Flipkart, had slashed the value of its shares by 4.1 percent in August. This was the third consecutive markdown by Morgan Stanley after it reduced the value by 15.5 percent in the previous quarter and by 27 percent in the quarter before that.

These markdowns could have a crucial impact on Walmart’s prospective investment into Flipkart, which multiple reports have claimed, could be to the tune of $1 billion.