- Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma says he ‘will jump at any opportunity to buy more equity’ in the company from Antfin.
- Antfin, a subsidiary of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, sold some of its stakes in Paytm after Alibaba sold its entire stake in February.
- Sharma, also CEO of Paytm, holds a 19.42% in Paytm after purchasing shares from Antfin.
- Paytm is focusing on its payments and credit business and is targeting free cash flow of sizeable value soon, Sharma said.
- Paytm launched a US$12 “soundbox” device that lets merchants accept both mobile and card payments across networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and RuPay.
- Paytm competes with players such as Google Pay and Walmart’s PhonePe in India
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said on Monday he is open to increasing his stake in the Indian fintech firm if there are sellers, weeks after he became the largest shareholder in the company by buying the stake from Chinese firm Antfin. Sharma, also CEO of Paytm, holds a 19.42% in Paytm after purchasing shares from Antfin amid broader concerns about Chinese ownership in Indian financial technology companies.
“Paytm is truly an Indian company. It is a milestone that I’m able to acquire more stake in my company,” Sharma told the news agency. “Antfin has not indicated that they want to sell (a further) stake at the moment, but if they do, I will jump at any opportunity to buy more equity in Paytm,” he said.
Antfin’s sell down had followed a complete exit by Alibaba Group Holding in February. Japan’s Softbank Group has also been cutting its stake in Paytm through open market deals.
Paytm is focusing on its payments and credit business and is targeting free cash flow of sizeable value soon, Sharma said.
Paytm on Monday also launched a US$12 “soundbox” device that lets merchants accept both mobile and card payments across networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and home-grown RuPay, as it looks to attract more subscribers from its large network.
The soundbox provides instant audio alerts on amounts paid to merchants through an inbuilt speaker.
Paytm competes with players such as Google Pay and Walmart’s PhonePe in India, where digital payments gained traction after the country banned some high-value currency notes in 2016. Merchants from vegetable vendors to large retail stores now accept digital payments.
The focus is to add as many merchants as possible and engage with them, riding the popularity of soundbox, Sharma said.
(With inputs from agencies)
