SoftBank Group’s shareholding in Paytm drops below 1%
As of the quarter ended March 2024, SoftBank held a 1.4% stake in Paytm, which dropped below the 1% mark by June of this year.
Japan’s SoftBank Group’s shareholding in ’s parent company, One97 Communications Limited, has dropped below 1%, according to a recent stock exchange filing.
As of the quarter ended March 2024, SoftBank Vision Fund India Holdings (Cayman), a SoftBank entity, held a 1.4% stake in the fintech firm. However, according to the shareholding pattern for the quarter ended June 2024, SVF is no longer listed among shareholders holding more than 1% of the total shares.
In May, The CapTable reported that SoftBank, one of India’s biggest startup investors, might fully exit Paytm by the end of the April-June quarter. The Japanese group is expected to incur a loss of $100-150 million on its $1.4 billion investment in the fintech company.
During Paytm's initial public offering in 2021, SoftBank held an 18% stake in the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led firm. Over the past 10 months, the Japanese investor has been regularly selling Paytm stock through OMOs, as well as block and bulk deals on the stock exchanges.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment shareholding in Paytm dropped to 37.77% at the end of June, down from 39.77% three months earlier.
While investors like SoftBank are exiting the fintech firm, others are increasing their stakes, including Mirae Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund. Due to purchases by these two funds, mutual fund shareholding in the company has risen to 6.8% from 6.15%.
In the quarter ended June, individual investor Akash Bhanshali also raised his stake to 1.21%.
Paytm debuted on the stock exchange in November 2021 with a much-anticipated price of Rs 1,955. Since then, the share price has plummeted by over 75%. On Friday, Paytm’s shares closed 2.47% lower at Rs 467.25 on the BSE.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
