SoftBank looking to book profits by selling shares in Zomato, Paytm: Report

Japan-based SoftBank is looking to sell small stakes in Zomato and Paytm's parent One97 Communications as the bets have finally turned profitable for the investment conglomerate amid the rally in new-age stocks, Moneycontrol reported on Friday.

The shares will be sold in small tranches in the open market and not through block deals.

SoftBank had paid Rs 830-840 per share for Paytm and Rs 65-70 for Zomato while acquiring the stake. On Thursday, Paytm closed at Rs 900 and Zomato at Rs 74.95 on the Indian bourses. Since January 1, Paytm's share price has surged nearly 70 per cent and Zomato 24 per cent.

Before this stake sale, Softbank had offloaded the shares of these companies at a loss. This will be the first time since the listing of these companies in 2021 that the shares will be sold in profit.

Currently, Softbank holds an 11.17 per cent stake in Paytm and 3.4 per cent in Zomato. In May, it had sold about a two per cent stake in Paytm for $120 million.

In India, SoftBank has backed more than 20 unicorns. However, in 2023 so far, it has not participated in a single funding round. In November, at an earnings presentation, SoftBank's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Masayoshi Son had said that the company will monetise "whatever it can" to survive the economic crisis.

In 2022-23, it reported a loss of $7.2 billion. Its Vision Fund investment unit reported a loss of $32 billion.

As of 1:15 pm on Friday, Zomato was trading in the red at Rs 75.09 apiece at BSE. Paytm was down 1.22 per cent and was trading at Rs 882.