Paytm, backed by SoftBank, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to $2.23 billion (roughly Rs. 16,640 crores), draft papers submitted to the country’s market regulator showed on Friday.
The IPO will include an issue of new shares worth Rs. 8,300 crores and an offer for sale worth Rs. 8,300 crores, said Paytm, which is backed by investors including Berkshire Hathawa, China’s Ant Group and Japan’s SoftBank.
The Noida-based company, which is owned by One97 Communications, said it would use the IPO proceeds to strengthen its payment ecosystem and for new business initiatives and acquisitions.
One97 posted a consolidated net loss of Rs. 1,696 crores for the year ended March 31, lower than the previous year’s Rs. 2,842 crores loss, according to the prospectus. Revenue slipped 14.6 percent to Rs. 2,802 crores.
Started a decade ago as a platform for mobile recharging, Paytm grew rapidly after ride-hailing firm Uber listed it as a quick payment option.
Its IPO plans come amid a pandemic-fuelled expansion in India’s digital economy and an intensifying battle for market share with Alphabet’s Google Pay and Facebook-owned WhatsApp Pay.
Adoption of digital payments has risen since India’s 2016 ban on high-value currency bank notes, helping Paytm expand its services to include insurance and gold sales, movie and flight ticketing, and bank deposits and remittances.
The company was planning to raise $268 million (roughly Rs. 2,000 crores) in a pre-IPO funding round, a source told Reuters on Monday.
Several Indian startups have spelt out plans to go public to cash in on liquidity brought in by foreign funds. A few of the closely watched ones include food delivery startup Zomato, Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, beauty brand Nykaa, and ride-hailing service Ola.
Paytm’s $2.23 billion (roughly Rs. 16,640 crores) raise through the IPO would make it among India’s biggest public listings after state-run miner Coal India in 2010 and Reliance Power in 2008.
JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, ICICI Securities, Goldman Sachs, Axis Capital, Citi, and HDFC Bank are the booking running managers for the IPO.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
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