Chinese conglomerate Alibaba’s Ant Group sold its entire stake in Paytm in a block deal on February 10, days after the affiliate company’s nominee Douglas Feagin resigned from the fintech firm’s board.
Alibaba, which held about a 6.26 percent stake in Paytm, sold a 3.1 percent stake through a block deal in January and now the remaining 2.1 crore shares, too, were sold, news agency ANI cited sources as saying.
The block deal pushed Paytm stock down by 9 percent. Alibaba also sold its stake in Big Basket and partially exited Zomato.
Feagin, who was also on the board of Zomato, announced his exit from the food aggregator on February 9.
“Exiting from the boards of the stake-holding companies allows Ant Group to undertake large trades without much complications,” a source said.
Paytm declined to respond to Moneycontrol's queries on the development.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18 in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Paytm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that he was not privy to Alibaba’s previous stake sale and that it could be planned better.
"Alibaba was never a strategic shareholder for us. Alibaba and Paytm were never together in the business... The exit could have been planned better, but it is what it is," he said.
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