China’s Ant Group and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp are looking to sell their stakes in India’s digital payments company Paytm on the open market, the business paper said on Monday.
The companies had earlier approached Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Mittal to sell his stake in Paytm One’s parent company 97 Communications, but those talks have not progressed much, citing people familiar with the matter.
SoftBank, Ant Group, Paytm and Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. However, a secondary sale to financial investors in the open market through a block transaction is still possible.
Ant has a nearly 25% stake in Paytm, while SoftBank owns about 13%, according to stock market data. Paytm has been under pressure to turn profitable ever since its dismal entry at the end of 2021.
Its shares have fallen about 70% below their IPO price of 2,150 rupees, as lofty valuations of loss-making technology firms come under scrutiny amid volatility in financial markets.
China’s Alibaba Group exited Paytm earlier this month by selling its remaining stake in the company for about 13.78 billion rupees ($166.20 million). SoftBank had also earlier sold a 4.5% stake in Paytm through block deals for around $200 million.
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