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According to sources close to the situation, Indian business magnate Sunil Mittal is interested in acquiring a stake in Paytm by integrating his financial services business with the fintech giant’s payments bank.
Mittal wants to merge Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank in a stock transaction, and he also wants to purchase Paytm shares from other holders, according to people who asked not to be identified because they were sharing private information. The talks are still in their early stages, and Airtel and Paytm may not reach an agreement, according to the sources.
Paytm shares, formerly known as One 97 Communications Ltd., have recovered around 40% from their November record low as the company shows signs of becoming profitable.According to an exchange filing this month, the business cut its third-quarter deficit after a client acquisition push increased revenue.
“We remain fully focused on our strong organic growth journey and are not involved in any such discussions,” a representative for Paytm said in an email statement. A spokesman for Bharti Enterprises Ltd., controlled by Mittal, declined to comment.
Paytm, formerly India’s most valuable company, has never traded above its IPO price of 2,150 rupees since its offering in November 2021 and has seen the worst first-year share drop among significant IPOs over the previous decade. SoftBank Group Corp. of Japan and Ant Group Co. of China are among the company’s supporters.
According to exchange records, Mittal’s six-year-old payments bank had 129 million members and had been profitable in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.
Paytm is expanding its product offering in order to attract more users and persuade investors of its revenue potential. According to Bloomberg statistics, eight brokerages have either a buy or overweight rating on One 97 Communications, with a consensus 12-month price objective of 944.64 rupees.