Ever since its Initial Public Offering failed to deliver because of being overpriced, Paytm has been trying to shore up its stock prices. It even initiated a buyback in December, as its stocks have failed to rise above the IPO price of Rs 2,150 for more than a year. Now the failure of a reported stake sale to Bharti Airtel's Chairman Sunil Mittal, has sent its stocks crashing down by 9 per cent.
The billionaire who was said to be seeking shares of Paytm, to merge Airtel Payments Bank into it, told ET that he was never part of such negotiations. Reports of his bid had emerged at a time when major investors Softbank and Jack Ma's Ant Group were looking to reduce their stakes in Paytm. The two need to cut down their stake below 25 per cent to comply with norms, and are now looking for secondary stock deals.
Reports suggest that the foreign investors may also be trying to sell shares to exit the digital payment platform. These developments follow Paytm's positive performance for the October-December quarter of FY23, with losses narrowing to Rs 392 crore. Paytm did surge by 11 per cent in a month before the dip, and was still 31 per cent down from its 52-week high.
Investments by mutual funds and AIFs in India, have also increased domestic institutional shareholding in Paytm by 1.11 per cent, as foreign investors pull out.
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