Paytm's share price jumps by 70 percent in grey market after IPO announcement

The board of One97 Communications, the parent firm of Paytm, is planning to go public in what is touted to be one of the country's largest initial public offerings (IPO). Paytm's $3-billion IPO (around Rs 21,745 crore taking USD/INR value at Rs 72.48) is likely to be slated for Diwali (October-December) and the company is targeting a valuation of over $25 billion, CNBC-TV18 has reported. So far, the biggest IPO that India has seen was Coal India's Rs 15,475-crore issue, which was listed in November 2010. Here are the top 10 IPOs in India's history. (Data Source: ACE Equity)

After reports of Paytm planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) emerged in the media, the unlisted shares of One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm has jumped 70 percent, a report in The Economic Times (ET) said.

Paytm board on May 28 met to discuss an IPO proposal with an aim to raise $3 billion. However, according to a source, the IPO will be launched later this year but the company is not ready to announce the same as yet.

One97 Communications India Ltd, which runs the Paytm service, is likely to go for an IPO with almost double the valuation. The company was last valued at $16 billion when it raised $1 billion from Softbank and Ant Financial in 2019.

According to the ET report, the share price of the company soared from ₹11,000 to ₹18,500 per share in a week in the grey market. Grey market refers to the unofficial markets for IPOs where the shares or a company are traded they get listed. Although no actual delivery of shares takes place before in the grey markets before listing but an unofficial future/forward contract is made. These markets are beyond the purview of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The last time the stock had soared more than this was in early 2020 before the Covid-19 crisis when it touched the price of Rs 19,000 per share. It had then plunged as much as Rs 8,500 per share in May 2020.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Reportedly, at the current share price in the unlisted market, the company is valued at around $15.5 billion (₹1.11 lakh crore), lower than the valuation at which it raised funds in November 2019 which is still more than the market capitalization of the listed finance firms such as SBI Cards & Payment Services, SBI Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, or banks such as IndusInd, Bandhan, and Punjab National Bank.

"There is a mad rush to buy for One97 Communications shares in the last few days especially after the IPO news," Sambhav Aggarwal of Delhi-based Arms Securities, which deals in unlisted shares told the publication. "Shares which were traded at around ₹11,000 till early last week are currently traded above ₹18,000."

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