Paytm Funding: SAIF Partners May Bag $400 Mn From Stake Sale

Venture capital and private equity firm SAIF Partners is expected to make $300 Mn-$400 Mn returns on its Paytm bet, by partially selling its stake to Softbank.

Just yesterday, it was reported that Paytm had raised $1.4 Bn funding from SoftBank Group. The Japanese Internet and telecom major had done the investment in Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications.

The stake sale will be made as a part of company’s latest financing round, reported ET. In March 2017, Paytm’s ecommerce marketplace Paytm E-Commerce also raised $200 Mn from Alibaba and SAIF Partners. SAIF has pumped in about $75 Mn in One97 Communications, till date.

In the same month, Paytm employees sold their shares in One97 Communications. About 47 employees sold shares worth about $15.3 Mn (INR 100 Cr) to both internal and external buyers.

Earlier this week, Sixth Sense Ventures founder and CEO Nikhil Vora pocketed about $23.4 Mn by selling his stake in One97 Communications. The stake was sold to Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings. Vora had invested in the company in 2011. He picked up a 0.35% stake or 1,60,000 shares of One97 Communications. The stake sale valued Paytm at about $6.6 Bn.

SAIF Partners’ Bets In India

VC firms aim to make a profit from their investments and Saif Partners seems to be doing a great job at that. In April 2017, the VC firm managed to pull off 16X return on its investment in MakeMyTrip.

SAIF Partners had invested about $25 Mn in MakeMyTrip between 2005 and 2008 and owned about 41% stake in the company, when it debuted on Nasdaq in 2010. The VC firm was left with about 11.8% holding in MakeMyTrip in October 2016 and has reportedly clocked about 16 times return on its investment in MMT.

SAIF Partners has been investing in India since 2001. It specialises in private equity and venture capital across Asia. Its focus area includes IT, ITes, industrials, financial services, Internet, consumer product, mobile. SAIF Partners’ portfolio includes Paytm, Network18, HomeShop18, Book My Show, etc.