Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has sold a 3.1% stake in Indian digital payments company Paytm.

Alibaba sold a 3.1% stake in the Indian digital payments firm, Paytm. Source: Pixabay.com

The transaction was made on January 12, but it became known a few days later. This operation was a block transaction. In September last year, the Chinese e-commerce giant owned 6.26% of the shares of the Indian company. After the completion of the block transaction, Alibaba’s share has halved.

The transaction was made as part of the implementation of the Indian company’s decision to buy back shares, which was made in December last year. The management of Paytm intends to buy back securities totaling $ 103 million. In 2022, the share price of the Indian company was 60% lower than in January same year.

The American investment bank Morgan Stanley acted as the sole agent for the placement of the stake. The package was sold at a price of 536.95 rupees per share. This level of value is 7.3% lower than the indicator that was recorded at the last close.

Paytm raised $2.5 billion in 2021. Then the company held the largest IPO in the history of India on the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE). After the debut on the market, Paytm shares fell in price by 27%.

The Indian company was founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma under the management of One97 Communications. Paytm offers mobile payment services to customers and allows merchants to receive money using QR codes, retail outlets, and online payment gateways. In partnership with financial institutions, Paytm provides financial services such as micro-loans and Buy Now, Pay Later. The company also provides ticketing services, retail brokerage products, and online games.

As we have reported earlier, Alibaba raised stake in Turkish e-commerce platform.