Paytm may raise funds from SoftBank, Ant Financial at $16bn valuation

Paytm is close to sealing a $2 billion funding round which includes existing investors SoftBank Group and Alibaba's Ant Financial, media reports said.

The fundraising could value India’s leading financial technology company at $16-17 billion, they added.

Discovery Capital Management, co-founded by hedge fund manager Rob Citrone, is also considering joining the financing round, a source told Bloomberg.

T Rowe Price, Discovery Capital Management, and D1 Capital, are part of consortium in talks to invest in Paytm, according to a report by Times of India.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the reports.

Paytm and SoftBank declined to comment when approached by Bloomberg. Ant Financial had no immediate comment, and Discovery Capital declined to comment as well.

While Bloomberg noted that the funding would be done in equal parts debt and equity. Both reports did not specify the size of the investment from SoftBank and Alibaba.

"These investors believe the potential of financial services is huge in India and Paytm’s leadership position in the consumer segment makes it a good bet for them. The idea of raising debt in this round is to make a serious play in the lending business for its merchants (10-14 million)," a source told ToI.

If D1 Capital and Discovery Capital proceed with the transaction, this would be their first direct investment in India.