Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Exits Paytm By Offloading 2.5% Stake

Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway has exited fintech major Paytm by offloading its entire 2.46% stake in the company on Friday (November 24).

Berkshire Hathaway sold 1.56 Cr shares in the company worth about INR 1,370.6 Cr in a bulk deal, as per NSE data.

The buzz that such a large deal took place in Paytm emerged earlier in the day as the company’s shares plunged 5% in the early trading hours to INR 877 on the NSE.

A total of 2.1 Cr shares exchanged hands during today’s trading session on the NSE.

Paytm shares ended Friday’s session 3.1% lower at INR 895 on the NSE and 3.2% lower at INR 893 on the BSE.

Some of the shares sold by Berkshire Hathaway were purchased by Ghisallo Master Fund LP and Copthall Mauritius Investment Limited.

While Ghisallo Master Fund purchased 42.7 Lakh Paytm shares worth INR 375 Cr, Copthall Mauritius Investment bought 75.7 Lakh shares worth INR 664.5 Cr.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had invested INR 2,179 Cr in Paytm to purchase a little over 17 Lakh equity shares in 2018. Following shares split in 1:10 ratio, the investment major’s holding grew to 1.7 Cr shares in the company.

During the fintech company’s IPO, Berkshire Hathaway had sold 14 Lakh shares taking its total shareholding to 1.56 Cr, making a 65% gain on investment.

Compared with its initial investment amount in 2018, the American investment firm has exited Paytm with almost a 40% loss.

Several other multinational investment giants such as SoftBank and Antfin have also been offloading their stake in Paytm since last year.

The latest bulk deal by Berkshire Hathaway comes three months after Antfin (Netherlands) Holdings offloaded 2.27 Cr shares of Paytm or a 3.59% stake in the company in August. 

Paytm shares have gained 68.2% year to date this year. In fact, the shares have jumped 24.8% in just six months.