SoftBank offloads 2% stake in Paytm parent One97 Communications

SoftBank has sold a 2.07% stake in Paytm parent One97 Communications in a series of sales in the open market this year, to comply with the market regulator’s takeover regulations, the Japanese investor informed stock exchanges.

A SoftBank entity, SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Ltd, sold the shares, totalling more than 13 million, between February 10 and May 8. The transactions are expected to have generated about $120 million, sources told ET, requesting anonymity.

With the disposal on May 8, it breached the 2% threshold specified in Regulation 29(2) of the Sebi Takeover Regulations, SoftBank said.


Regulation 29(2) states that any entity or persons which hold more than 5% or more shareholding or voting rights, need to disclose every acquisition or disposal of shares in the target company.

With these transactions, SoftBank has reduced its stake to 11.17% from 13.24% in the digital payments and financial services-focused entity, its filings show.

A SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment.

In November last year, the SoftBank Group had sold a 4.5% stake in Paytm through block deals worth $200 million.

SoftBank, the second largest shareholder in Paytm after Ant Group, had offloaded shares worth $220 million at the time of Paytm’s initial public offering.

ET reported in February that both SoftBank and the Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba, had discussed selling shares in the company. According to sources ET spoke to then, a sale to financial investors in the open market through block deals was among the options these investors were considering.

The same month, the Alibaba Group exited One97 Communications, by selling its remaining 3.3% stake, through block deals for Rs 1,378 crore (or roughly $167 million).

On Thursday, Paytm shares closed 4% lower at Rs 698.40 on the BSE.

Over the past months, SoftBank has been divesting its stake across its Indian publicly traded portfolio comprising Delhivery and PB Fintech. In March, it sold a 3.85% stake in Delhivery for Rs 954 crore. In December last year, it sold a 5.1% holding in PB Fintech for Rs 1,043 crore.