Digital Payments app Paytm has received market regulator SEBI’s approval for its Rs 16,600 crore initial public offering (IPO), moneycontrol.com reported citing sources privy to the matter.
According to the company’s DRHP, the fintech giant will raise raise Rs 8,300 crore through primary share sale and the remaining Rs 8,300 crore will be an offer for sale (OFS), where existing investors can sell their shares. As per the draft prospectus, Banks including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and ICICI Securities Ltd. are running the share sale. Paytm founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Alibaba group firms will dilute some of their stake in the proposed offer-for-sale.
Alibaba group firm Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV will be selling at least 5 per cent stake to bring its shareholding below 25 per cent to comply with regulatory requirements, as per another source. The company is planning for a mid-November listing.It had filed its draft in July.
Earlier on Thursday, a Bloomberg report said tthat the digital payments pioneer may scra the proposed ₹ 2,000 crore ($268 million) share sale ahead of its initial public offering over valuation differences. The firm had been seeking a valuation of above $20 billion based on initial investor feedback, while advisers on the deal recommended a lower pricing, the business news agency reported quoting sources.
Founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2000, One97 Coomunications, the parent firm of Paytm, began its journey by selling content to users through telecom operators. By 2010, the smartphone became By January 2014, the company had launched the Paytm Wallet. It launched into e-commerce with online deals and bus ticketing. By 2015, Ant Financial had invested in us, then Alibaba and then SoftBank. Later, it also added education fees, metro recharges, electricity, gas, and water bill payments.
