SoftBank Offloads Another 2% Stake In Paytm Parent For $114 Mn

Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank has sold another 2% stake in fintech giant Paytm’s parent entity One97 Communications for INR 950 Cr ($114 Mn).

In a regulatory disclosure filed with the BSE, SoftBank said it offloaded its stake in the fintech startup over the past month via multiple open market transactions. 

With this, the tech investor has now reduced its shareholding in the company to around 5%.

“SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Limited has disposed of an aggregate of 12,706,807 equity shares of One97 Communications Ltd in a series of disposals undertaken between December 19, 2023 and January 20, 2024, with the disposal on January 20, 2024 breaching the 2% threshold specified in Regulations 29(2) of the Sebi Takeover regulations,” it said. 

SoftBank has been steadily reducing its stake in Paytm over the past one year. Recently, it dumped 0.55% shares in Paytm in December and followed it by selling another 1.4% stake earlier this month. The selloff comes in the wake of Paytm stock surging 20% in the past one month.

The development comes close on the heels of the fintech startup releasing its quarterly financial results for Q3 FY24. Paytm continued to trim its loss, slashing its net loss by 43% to INR 222 Cr in the quarter ended December 2023 from INR 392 Cr during the corresponding period last fiscal. 

Meanwhile, operating revenue rose to INR 2,850 Cr in Q3 FY24, up 38% from INR 2,062 Cr in Q3 FY23. On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, it jumped 13%. 

The company attributed this jump to rise in gross merchandise volume (GMV), higher device addition and the growth of its financial services business during the quarter. Festive season also ‘partly’ boosted the company’s revenues in Q3 FY24. 

Just last week, Paytm’s chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an earnings call that the company will continue adding tech capabilities to its businesses to build a leaner workforce.

“Instead of expanding more business functions, we are trying to add capabilities of machines and systems on our platform. So the systems and capabilities will continue to grow which will necessarily create not so much of demand in a linear way of the number of people that we need,” Sharma said.

Amid its decision to scale down small-ticket loans, last month, Paytm sacked hundreds of employees citing the increasing usage of AI-led automation. Sources told Inc42 then that the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company has been adopting AI wherever possible to drive up efficiency, which resulted in layoffs.

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