Ahead of Paytm’s stock market debut today after the digital payments company opened its initial public offering (IPO), in what is the largest-ever public issue in the history of Indian capital markets, its founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma appeared to be getting the jitters.
Taking to Twitter this morning, he compared his state of mind to that of the Indian cricket team and thanked Paytm users.
“Man, I can feel for our cricket team! So many messages, wishes, & kind words. Feels like carrying the hopes and aspirations of young India to the Stock Market. From coal to a fintech, in 11 years — India has transformed. To every Paytmer, you’ve changed India for good,” Sharma said a tweet which was pinned to his profile.
The Rs 18,300-crore public issue of Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications, the largest ever in India, was subscribed 1.89 times during November 8-10 due to lower-than-expected response in the qualified institutional buyer and high net-worth individual (HNI) categories.
Sharma, the son of a schoolteacher, founded Paytm in 2010. He says he learned English by listening to rock music. He was ranked India's youngest dollar billionaire four years ago at the age of 38 and now has a net worth of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes. He owns a nearly 14-percent stake.
So far, in 2021, as many as 46 companies have floated their IPOs to raise Rs 80,102 crore and market experts believe that the year should close with the Rs 1-lakh crore primary market fundraising.
Food delivery giant Zomato was the country's biggest IPO of the year until now with its $1.3 billion share issue in July. E-commerce beauty giant Nykaa opened its IPO to subscribers last month.
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