Antfin likely to sell 3.6% stake in Paytm through block deal on Friday

The floor price for the deal is anticipated to be at a discount of Rs 880.10 per share, representing a 2.7 per cent discount from the closing price of Rs 904.45 per share recorded on Thursday. Citigroup has been appointed as the broker for the deal, which is reportedly valued at around $234 million.

On August 7, the company informed the exchanges that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications, had agreed to purchase a 10.3 per cent stake worth $628 million in the fintech firm from Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV. The purchase will be made off-market through Sharma’s 100 per cent-owned Netherlands-based entity, Resilient Asset Management BV.

Following the transaction, Sharma’s stake in the company will increase to 19.42 per cent, and Antfin will no longer be the largest shareholder of Paytm. This will make Sharma the largest single shareholder. The company has stated that the transaction will not result in any changes in the management or control of Paytm, and Sharma will continue in his role as the managing director and CEO. Additionally, the existing board will remain unchanged.

Antfin is the Netherlands-based arm of Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial. In a previous deal, the company’s stake in Paytm was reduced to 13.49 per cent, and it could potentially reduce its stake further to under 10 per cent.

Antfin’s decision to sell comes after China’s Alibaba sold its entire stake in Paytm in February. Japan’s SoftBank has also progressively reduced its shares in Paytm, along with other companies like Delhivery and Zomato through multiple rounds. The investment firm recently divested an additional 2 per cent of its stake in One97 Communications, Paytm’s parent company, for an estimated $180-200 million. This resulted in SoftBank’s total ownership in the fintech company dropping below 10 per cent for the first time, settling at 9.15 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)