Reverse Flip

Also called Reverse Flipping and Flip Back

Moving a startup's holding company from abroad, often the US or Singapore, back to India, usually by merging the foreign parent into its Indian subsidiary so investors end up holding shares of the Indian company.

Why it matters

Founders do it to list on Indian stock exchanges and to sit closer to Indian capital and regulators. Since 2024 the merger can use a fast-track route instead of a full tribunal process, but foreign shareholders usually owe capital gains tax on the way, which can run into hundreds of crores for a large company.

For example

PhonePe, Groww, Razorpay, Meesho and Pine Labs moved their holding companies back to India; Groww's move reportedly cost about ₹1,300 crore in tax.

Go deeper

India's Reverse-Flip Wave: Regulatory Breakthroughs and Enabling Frameworks IndiaCorpLaw · article An October 2025 article on the rules that made reverse flips easier, the 2024 fast-track merger route and the share-swap change, the tax costs that remain, and the open legal questions. Open indiacorplaw.in →

Related terms

Also in Starting Up

See how founders actually handle this on Co-founders, team and legal, part of the Starting Up hub.

eChai Partner Brands The partnership →