SoftBank Group sells another 2% stake in crisis-hit Paytm to under 3%

The Japanese conglomerate held a 17.5% stake in Paytm in September 2022. Since then, it has trimmed its ownership through multiple open market deals

Just a month after it sold a 2 per cent stake in Paytm, SoftBank Group on Thursday, announced that it has another 2.17 per cent in the beleaguered payments firm. Its stake in Paytm has now fallen to 2.83 per cent from 5.01 per cent earlier.

The Japanese conglomerate held a 17.5 per cent stake in Paytm in September 2022. Since then, it has trimmed its ownership through multiple open market deals, with its most recent cut being in January.

In December and January, the Japanese firm sold a 2 per cent stake in the company, bringing it down to just 5 per cent.

While some global investors like Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and China's Alibaba Group exited the firm in 2023, others, including a Netherlands-based unit of Chinese fintech firm Ant Financial cut their stake.

Earlier this month, Business Standard reported that SoftBank Group has made a loss of 10 per cent or $100 million on its $1.4 billion investment. The Japanese firm invested in One97 Communications at the rate of Rs 820 a share in May 2017 (after all adjustments in the company's shares).

Since January 31, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered Paytm to wrap up its banking arm, citing "persistent non-compliance" with regulation, Paytm's shares have fallen over 45 per cent.

Later, the company announced that Vijay Shekhar Sharma would step down as part-time non-executive chairman and board member of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL). PPBL also reconstituted its board of directors with the appointment of ex-Central Bank of India chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and retired IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal.

On Thursday, Paytm's shares were down 3.85 per cent as of 1:40 pm, on BSE.

(With agency inputs)