Paytm’s CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma receives 10.30% stake from Antfin

17 Aug 2023 , 09:38 AM

According to a filing with the bourses, Chinese e-commerce player Alibaba group firm Antfin has offloaded its 10.3% share in One97 Communications (Paytm) to the fintech company’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

The transaction transforms One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand name, from a corporation dominated by Chinese companies to a firm dominated by Indians.

The share transfer was completed on August 14, bringing Antfin’s total shareholding to 13.49% from 23.79% previously, according to the filing. With a 19.55% ownership stake in the company, the Sharma family becomes the company’s largest stakeholder.

Antfin’s stake has been transferred to Sharma and his family members’ overseas business Resilient Asset Management BV. In exchange, Resilient Asset will issue debt instrument OCDs (optionally convertible debentures) to Antfin.

Before the purchase, Sharma owned slightly more than 9% of Paytm. There would be no change in Paytm’s management or control owing to this transaction. Sharma would continue as Managing Director and CEO, and the current board would remain in place.

Furthermore, Antfin has not yet appointed any nominee on the Paytm board of directors. The Antfin deal took place at a price of approximately Rs 795 apiece, which is roughly one-third of Paytm’s IPO offering price of Rs 2,150 per share. The aggregate value of the shares traded was around USD 628 million, according to Paytm.

At around 9.30 AM, Paytm was trading 0.71% lower at Rs 868.20, against the previous close of Rs 874.45 on NSE. The counter plunged to an intraday low of Rs 868.

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