SoftBank cuts ties with Paytm, sells remaining 1.4% stake
What's the story
Japan's SoftBank has fully divested from One97 Communications, the parent company of fintech giant Paytm. The latest shareholding data reveals that SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited, a SoftBank subsidiary, sold its remaining 1.4% stake in Paytm. This move concludes a series of regular offloads by SoftBank since November 2022, reducing its initial 18.5% stake to just 1.4% by March 2024.
Exit strategy
SoftBank's recent divestment from Indian ventures
This divestment follows closely on the heels of SoftBank's full exit from another Indian venture, PB Fintech, which is the parent company of insurance marketplace PolicyBazaar. Initially, SoftBank had invested nearly $200 million in PB Fintech. Reports indicate that the Japanese investor earned around $650 million in returns on its total investment in the insurance aggregator.
Information
New stakeholders emerge following SoftBank's exit
Following SoftBank's departure, Treeline, a Singapore and Hong Kong-based hedge fund, and UBS Principal Capital Asia increased their shareholding in Paytm to 1.18 and 1.08%, respectively. Despite this, the overall Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) shareholding saw a decline of 2% from 39.77 to 37.77%.