Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway exits Paytm

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Legendary investor Warren Buffet-owned Berkshire Hathaway has sold its entire stake in One97 Communications Ltd, which owns brand Paytm, in a large block deal, exchange data showed on Friday. 

As many as 1.56 crore shares of Paytm or 2.5 per cent equity worth nearly ₹ 1,370 crore were sold by BH International on Friday at ₹877.29 a share. The buyers include Copthall Mauritius Investment and Ghisallo Master Fund, which purchased 1.19% and 0.67% stake, respectively. 

Exit at loss

This meant that Berkshire Hathaway has exited Paytm, India’s leading digital payments and financial services platform, after incurring an overall loss of about ₹600 crore. 

Buffet had picked up a 2.6 per cent stake in Paytm in September 2018 after investing about ₹2,200 crore ($300 million). During the Paytm IPO in November 2021, Berkshire Hathaway had sold shares worth ₹220 crore. 

Paytm, the only investment in India by Buffett, had also been recently named as one of the inclusions in the MSCI Global Standards Index.

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Paytm shares closed at ₹895 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, down 3.08 per cent over previous day’s close of ₹923.40. The Paytm stock price opened at ₹920 and hit the intra-day low price at ₹877.15.

One97 Communications has been in focus after the RBI recently clamped down on certain retail loan segments, tightening consumer lending norms for NBFCs and banks and requiring them to set aside higher capital buffers.