Paytm shares flat as 2.9% equity changes hands via block deal, Antfin likely seller

One97 Communications Ltd

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Shares of Paytm parent One97 Communications were flat as the firm saw a block deal of 1.86 crore shares, involving 2.9 percent of its total equity in trade on Tuesday, August 5.

Earlier, reports had suggested that Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V., one of the largest shareholders in the financial services firm, was likely to sell its entire 5.84 percent stake worth Rs 3,803 crore or approximately $434 million via the block deal route.

The proposed sale involved up to 3.77 crore equity shares of One97 Communications. The floor price was fixed at Rs 1,020 per share, which is a 5.4 percent discount to Paytm’s last closing price of Rs 1,078.20 on August 4 on the NSE.

This is a pure secondary transaction, with no fresh issuance of equity by the company. The sale has been described as a “clean-up trade” with no post-deal lock-in requirement. Citi, Goldman are likely to be onboarded as placement agents, according to the deal terms seen by Moneycontrol.

Antfin has gradually pared its stake in Paytm over the last two years. The move is part of its ongoing efforts to reduce exposure and aligns with regulatory sentiment around long-term Chinese-origin investors.

Further, Antfin was one of Paytm’s largest early investors, holding a significant 28 percent stake prior to Paytm's IPO. Over the past two years, it has steadily reduced its holding - first transferring a ~10.3 percent stake to Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma via an off-market transaction in August 2023, followed by an open market sale of ~4 percent in May 2025 for ~Rs 2,100 crore.

With the exit of Antfin, Paytm’s pre-IPO cap table has seen a near-complete churn. Major early backers including Alibaba, SoftBank, and Berkshire Hathaway have all exited fully over the past two years. Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners) now stands as the only significant pre-IPO investor still holding a stake of ~15.4 percent as of June 2025, noted JM Financial.

Other than Elevation Capital and the founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, no other shareholder has more than 5 percent or more of the shareholding.

Based on the June quarter update, foreign institutional investors own 54.9 percent of One97 Communication's total outstanding equity, while domestic institutional investors hold 15.8 percent in the firm. The public shareholding in Paytm is 29.3 percent.

"With the long-standing overhang from a major Chinese investor now removed, Paytm’s stock could see a positive reaction as ownership concerns ease and supply pressure decreases. Such clean-out trades often provide clarity to the market, allowing investors to refocus on fundamentals and future growth," said JM Financial.

Additionally, the exit also aligns the cap-table more closely with regulatory expectations, which could be viewed favourably in the context of Paytm’s pending payment aggregator license.

Over the past year, shares of Paytm have soared 116 percent. In the previous session, the firm's shares settled flat at Rs 1,079.9 apiece on the NSE.

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