Singapore court clears Pine Labs plea to move domicile to India

Pine Labs has secured clearance from a Singapore court to merge its domestic and Singapore entities, regulatory filings show. This is a step forward for the payments company in the process of shifting domicile back to India. It now awaits a nod at this end.

ET first reported on March 20 on Pine Labs’ filings in India and Singapore for a reverse merger.

The Singapore green light also provides precedent. “Others are closely following Pine Labs’ process. It had in-principle approval, and now, the court has given an order clearing the merger,” said a person in the know.


The person cited noted that several top management consultants view this as a positive development for Indian-origin companies headquartered abroad.

The reverse flip, as the return to base is known, has several takers of late amid positive sentiment in India. Walmart-owned Flipkart is actively considering a move from Singapore, ET reported on May 13. Meesho, Razorpay, Zepto and Udaan are at various stages of the process, while PhonePe and Groww have completed the migration.

Back home, Pine Labs’ application for a reverse merger is under consideration at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). “The NCLT process is pending and takes relatively longer to close,” said the person cited.

A spokesperson for Pine Labs did not immediately respond to queries on the matter. The fintech firm was last valued at about $5 billion and is backed by Peak XV Partners.


ET reported on May 13 that Walmart-owned Flipkart–the largest consumer internet firm in India– is actively considering moving its Singapore domicile to India. Walmart-backed PhonePe and fintech Groww have already completed migration to India.

Liability

For now, it is unclear how much the tax payout will be for Pine Labs as a result of this move.

Several of its peers in the midst of the move are also trying to assess the levy, both in India and abroad, or either.

Razorpay, for instance, may have to pay $300 million in taxes in the US, with founder Harshil Mathur indicating the company has accounted for it already. However, people aware of developments said the firm may raise new capital.

PhonePe’s largest investor, Walmart, paid Rs 8,000 crore in taxes to the Indian government for shifting domicile from Singapore.

Pine Labs has raised $1.61 billion in funding, including secondaries, since inception in 1998. It counts Alpha Wave Global, PayPal and Mastercard among its investors. The firm was planning to go for a public listing overseas last year but postponed the plans citing volatile market conditions.

In fact, the plan for an initial public offering has been a key reason for Indian-origin startups looking to move domicile here, with late-stage funding activity picking in and India being a bright spot compared to global markets.