Paytm shares ended Thursday’s session 6.4% lower at INR 542.25 on the BSE
Alibaba-owned Ant Financial likely sold 2 Cr Paytm shares via bulk deals at an average price of INR 540 per share
Paytm was one of the worst-hit tech stocks in 2022, with its shares falling over 60% in the year
Shares of fintech giant Paytm plunged about 9% to INR 528.35 intraday on the BSE on Thursday (January 12) after reportedly 3.1% of the startup’s equity shares changed hands in a series of block deals.
The decline came after Paytm shares showed a strong upward momentum by gaining in nine consecutive sessions since last week. Its shares ended today’s session 6.4% lower at INR 542.25 on the BSE.
As per a CNBC Awaaz report, Alibaba-owned Ant Financial likely sold 2 Cr Paytm shares via bulk deals. The shares were exchanged at an average price of INR 540 per share, amounting to an overall transaction value of INR 1,126 Cr, as per the report.
As of September 2022, Alibaba’s Antfin Netherlands Holding held 16.1 Cr shares, or 24.88% stake, of Paytm. On the other hand, Alibaba.Com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited held over 4 Cr shares, or 6.26% shares, of the fintech company.
In November last year, Paytm’s other major pre-IPO stakeholder SoftBank sold 2.9 Cr shares of the company, worth INR 1,630.1 Cr, post the lock-in expiry.
As per Goldman Sachs’ calculations, Antfin Netherlands Holding acquired Paytm shares between 2015 and 2019 at an average cost of around INR 300 per share, while Alibaba acquired shares in 2015 at a price of little more than INR 300 apiece.
“Alibaba selling shares in Paytm could be good news for shareholders as it reflects that Chinese shareholding is reducing in the company. This would benefit them in FDI and as the company is already on path to profitability, this will further allay investor concerns,” said Avinash Gorakshakar, head research at Profitmart Securities.
“Alibaba seems to be exiting from India as it has sold shares in BigBasket, Zomato and Paytm. This is a positive for shareholders as it clears many regulatory hurdles,” he added.
On Thursday, a total of 4 Cr Paytm shares were traded, 10X of the one-week average trading volume of 44 Lakh.
Paytm recently reported an upbeat operating performance in Q3 and December. It disbursed 3.7 Mn loans worth INR 3,666 Cr in December 2022, recording its best-ever month in terms of both metrics ever. The fintech player’s loan disbursals also increased 2.37X year-on-year in Q3 FY23 to 10.5 Mn.
Paytm was one of the worst-hit tech stocks in 2022, with its shares falling over 60% in the year.
