SoftBank offloads another 2% stake in Paytm

Japanese technology investor, SoftBank, has offloaded another 2% stake in Noida-headquartered digital payments major Paytm in a series of open market transactions over the last month.

A SoftBank entity, SVF Holdings (Cayman) Ltd has sold a total of 12.7 million equity shares, between December 19, 2023 and January 24, this year, the company informed the exchanges.

After the latest sale, SoftBank now holds a 5.06% stake in One 97 Communications, the parent entity that operates the Paytm brand.

The disposal of shares in One 97 Communications on January 20, 2024 breached the 2% threshold specified in Regulation 29(2) of the SEBI Takeover Regulations, SoftBank said as part of the filing.

Regulation 29(2) states disclosure from any entity or persons taking acquisition or disposal of stakes, resulting in the change exceeding 2% of the total shareholding or voting rights in the said target company.

Earlier in February last year, SoftBank held a 13.24% stake in the fintech major and has continued to dilute its stake through the course of last year.

SoftBank continues paring stake

The dilution of stake in One 97 tracks Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank’s strategy over the past about 12 months wherein the conglomerate has been steadily diluting its holding in listed Indian startups through public market deals.

In December last year, SoftBank fully exited two of its other major Indian investments including insurance and credit marketplace PB Fintech as well food and quick delivery startup Zomato.

It landed a 3.35% stake in Zomato when portfolio firm Blinkit (earlier Grofers) merged with the food delivery company in 2022 in an all-stock deal.

SoftBank has made profits of about $450 million from its $200 million investment in PB Fintech.

ET reported on January 2 that SoftBank sold stakes worth $1.8-1.9 billion during public offerings and through post-listing sales in four Indian startups — Paytm, Zomato, PB Fintech and Delhivery — that went public in 2021 and 2022. It had invested a total of $2.3-2.4 billion in these four new-age companies.

Meanwhile, SoftBank portfolio firms such as FirstCry, Ola Electric and Swiggy are expected to hit the public markets this year. FirstCry and Ola Electric have already filed draft IPO papers in December.