Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications said in an official statement, “We clarify that the stake news is speculation and the company is not involved in any discussions in this regard. We have always complied with the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.” “We have made and will continue to make disclosures in compliance with our obligations under the Act.”
Earlier, there were reports that Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani wants to buy stake in Paytm’s parent company One 97 Communications. Sources had said that Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma met Adani at his office in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to finalize the deal. If this deal is successful between the two, it will be Adani Group’s entry into the fintech sector, which will compete with Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial.
This will be one of Adani’s important purchases after Ambuja Cements and NDTV. Sharma holds about 19 per cent stake in One 97, which is worth Rs 4,218 crore based on the stock’s closing price of Rs 342 per share on Tuesday. Sharma holds 9 percent stake in Paytm directly, and 10 percent through a foreign firm Resilient Asset Management. According to documents filed by One 97 with stock exchanges, both Sharma and Resilient are listed as public shareholders.
According to SEBI rules, an acquirer holding less than 25 percent stake in a target company has to make an open offer for a minimum of 26 percent stake in the company. The acquirer can also make an open offer for the entire share capital of the company.
Sources said that discussions have been going on between Adani and Sharma for some time. He said Adani is also in talks with funds from West Asia to bring them on board as investors in One97, which has pioneered mobile payments in the country. One97, founded by Sharma in 2007, whose IPO was the second largest in the country, has a market capitalization of Rs 21,773 crore.
Other significant shareholders of One97 are private equity fund SAIF Partners (15%), Jack Ma-founded Antfin Netherlands (10%) and company directors (9%). Emails sent to Adani Group and One 97 on Tuesday remained unanswered till the time of going to press.
