It was learned on January 12 that the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba had sold a 3.1% stake in the digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which represents nearly half of its direct shareholding in the company. This is believed to be an indication that Alibaba is exiting the Indian market.
However, the share that Alibaba group firm Ant Financial holds in Paytm has not been reduced, and Ant Financial continues to own 25% of the business.
“There was a big movement in Paytm’s stock today as a block deal took place where 2,59,930 shares were sold at ₹535.90 worth 13.93 crore rupees. Chinese group Alibaba is behind the deal, selling up to 3.1% of its total equity of about 6%,” a source closely watching the development at Paytm told PTI.
This development comes after Alibaba completed the sale of its stakes in BigBasket and Zomato.
“Alibaba seems to be making an exit from India as it has sold shares in other investments,” the source said.
The share price of the firm was last seen on the BSE at ₹542.25 per share.
Paytm’s stock price has been climbing since its associate bank, Paytm Payments Bank, was granted permission by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to nominate Surinder Chawla to the positions of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Questions posed through email to Alibaba and One97 Communications were not met with an instant response from either company.