SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited, a SoftBank arm, has divested a 2% stake in Paytm’s parent One97 Communications for reportedly $120 million through an open market transaction in order to comply with SEBI regulation.
As per a stock exchange filing, Softbank has “disposed of an aggregate of 13,103,148 equity shares (approximately 2.07%) of One97 Communications Limited in a series of disposals undertaken between February 10, 2023 to May 8, 2023, breaching the 2% threshold specified in Regulation 29(2) of the SEBI Takeover Regulations.”
Post the sale, the investor will hold an 11.17% stake, with 70,809,082 shares.
An early investor of fintech unicorn, Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank had earlier in November 2022 offloaded a 4.5% stake in Paytm for Rs 1,631 crore through an open market transaction.
It held 17.45% before selling the part of the same at Rs 555–Rs 601 range.
In February, China’s Alibaba Group, via affiliate Alibaba.Com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited, exited Paytm by selling its remaining 3.3% direct stake in One97 Communications for Rs 1,378 crore through an open market transaction. A month earlier, it sold a 3% stake, reaping it Rs 1,031 crore.
The Chinese retailer holds a 24.94% stake in the Paytm parent through another affiliate, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V.
As per the shareholding pattern available on the Bombay Stock Exchange as of March 2023, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV (holding 24.94% share); SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited (12.88%); SAIF III Mauritius Company Limited (10.85%); SAIF Partners India IV Limited (4.60%); and BH International Holdings (2.47%) are foreign investors Paytm, while Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds 9.13%.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is the foreign portfolio investor (FPI).
The company managed to narrow down its consolidated net losses in the March quarter to Rs 168.4 crore, compared to Rs 761.4 crore in Q4 of the previous year. The overall revenue from operations in FY23 increased 61% to Rs 7,990 crore in contrast to Rs 4,974 crore in FY22, while losses stood at Rs 1,776.5 crore, narrowed 26% from a year earlier.
The fintech firm achieved its operating profitability milestone in Q3FY23, ahead of its September 2024 target.
As of 2:45 PM on Thursday, Paytm was trading at Rs 706.80, with its share price down by 2.91% from its previous close of Rs 728 on May 10.
