Berkshire Hathaway sells remaining 2.46% in Paytm for Rs 1,371 crore

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Berkshire Hathaway shareholders walk by a video screen at the company’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, US | Photo: Reuters


BH International Holdings, a unit of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, sold its remaining 2.46 per cent stake in One 97 Communications (Paytm) on Friday. It sold 15.62 million shares at Rs 877.3 apiece for Rs 1,371 crore.

According to data provided by stock exchanges, Copthall Mauritius Investment picked up 7.57 million shares and Ghisallo Master Fund LP acquired 4.2 million shares, amounting to a 1.19 per cent and 0.67 per cent stake in Paytm, respectively.

Shares of Paytm fell 3.23 per cent to close at Rs 893. BH International had also sold Rs 302 crore worth of shares during Paytm’s mega Rs 18,300-crore initial public offering (IPO) in November 2021, where shares were priced at Rs 2,150 apiece.

 


Berkshire incurred a loss of about Rs 507 crore.

 


According to the IPO prospectus, the average cost of acquisition for BH International was Rs 1,279.7 per share. It had bought shares worth Rs 2,179 crore in September 2018.

 


Berkshire’s exit comes after a string of selldowns for the firm, including stake cuts by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group and the exit of China’s Alibaba Group.

 


In September, Paytm chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma had said he was open to increasing his stake, weeks after he purchased shares in the company from Chinese firm Ant Financial, becoming Paytm’s single largest shareholder.

 


Paytm reported a 32 per cent year-on-year rise in its revenue to ₹2,518.6 crore in the July-September quarter of fiscal 2023-24 (Q2FY24). 

 

The fintech major had reported revenue of ₹1,914 crore in the year-ago period. The net loss (attributable to owners) narrowed down to ₹290.05 crore in the September quarter of current financial year.

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First Published: Nov 24 2023 | 10:51 PM IST