China's Ant considers Paytm stake sale amid tensions with India - sources | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
December 05, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 05, 2023
China's Ant considers Paytm stake sale amid tensions with India - sources

South Asia

Reuters
02 December, 2020, 04:10 pm
Last modified: 02 December, 2020, 04:49 pm

Related News

  • India pushes to maintain military presence in the Maldives
  • Two IAF pilots killed in first Pilatus trainer aircraft crash in Hyderabad
  • China's military: US Navy ship 'illegally' entered territorial waters
  • Gautam Adani’s wealth swells by $5.6 billion on relief rally
  • Modi’s decisive win in state elections boosts India sentiment

China's Ant considers Paytm stake sale amid tensions with India - sources

Paytm, which is also backed by SoftBank Group Corp among others, was valued at about $16 billion during its latest private fundraising round a year ago

Reuters
02 December, 2020, 04:10 pm
Last modified: 02 December, 2020, 04:49 pm
FILE PHOTO: A worker adjusts a hoarding of Paytm, a digital payments firm, in Ahmedabad, India, January 31, 2019. REUTERS/Amit Dave
FILE PHOTO: A worker adjusts a hoarding of Paytm, a digital payments firm, in Ahmedabad, India, January 31, 2019. REUTERS/Amit Dave

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group is considering selling its 30% stake in Indian digital payment processor Paytm amid tensions between the two Asian neighbours and a toughening competitive landscape, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Financial details of the possible transaction have not been firmed up and Ant, the Alibaba-backed payments-to-consumer credit behemoth, has not launched a formal sale process yet, four people told Reuters.

Paytm, which is also backed by SoftBank Group Corp among others, was valued at about $16 billion during its latest private fundraising round a year ago. At that valuation, Ant's stake in the Indian firm is worth about $4.8 billion.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Both Ant and Paytm said that the information was incorrect. A Paytm spokesman said, "there has been no discussion with any of our major shareholders ever, nor any plans, about selling their stake."

Ant's possible exit from Paytm would mark another reversal for the Chinese company hot on the heels of the dramatic suspension of its $37 billion stock listing last month, which would have been the world's largest.

It also would be a step back from its ambitions of becoming a global payments leader. Sources told Reuters in October that Ant was cutting its financial support to many of the overseas affiliated e-wallet firms.

The main trigger for Ant to consider the divestment of its stake in Paytm is the worsening diplomatic relations between India and China in the past few months, said the people, who declined to be named as the deliberations are confidential.

Relations between the countries are at a nadir, with troops locked in a border face-off in the western Himalayas for months after a clash in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Since the clash, India has tightened rules for investments from China and banned dozens of Chinese mobile apps, including from tech giants Tencent, Alibaba and ByteDance. It banned 43 more apps late last month.

"There is a growing realisation within Ant management that it would not be able to raise its stake in the company," one of the people with direct knowledge said, adding senior managers at Ant have discussed the idea recently.

Even so, Ant was in the middle of an investment review and it could still decide to shelve a divestment if it failed to get the desired valuation, he said.

Two other sources said that as a result of the review Ant could end up retaining a small stake in Paytm.

COMPETITIVE INTENSITY

Indian start-ups are heavily funded by Chinese investors such as Alibaba and Tencent. Bankers have previously said they were looking to bolster their presence in the country with an aim to grow their revenue outside China.

Alibaba has invested over $4 billion in India so far and had plans to invest around $5 billion in 2021, which have now been put on hold, one of the sources said.

Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment.

Ant first invested in Paytm in 2015 and owns its 30% stake in the firm via its parent company, One97 Communications, according to Ant's initial public offering prospectus, which described the Indian firm as a major associate.

In addition to the tighter investment rules for Chinese companies in India, tougher competition is likely another factor behind Ant's calculations regarding Paytm, which is losing its dominance, two of the people said.

Online transactions, lending and e-wallet services have been growing rapidly in India, led by a government push to make the country's cash-loving merchants and consumers adopt digital payments.

That has led to the entry and expansion of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Alphabet Inc's Google Pay, and Walmart's PhonePe. Some domestic players are also expanding operations. 

Top News / World+Biz

China / Ant Group / India / Paytm

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Record 27% nominations scrapped with  more bigshots rejected
    Record 27% nominations scrapped with  more bigshots rejected
  • Bolivian President Hugo Banzer shakes hands with Victor Manuel Rocha, the then U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, during a ceremony in the Goverment Palace in La Paz, August 3, 2000. File photo DM/JP/HB, Routers
    US charges ex-ambassador with spying for Cuba over decades
  • A brain drain query: Why do they leave?
    A brain drain query: Why do they leave?

MOST VIEWED

  • LPG cylinders. Photo: Courtesy
    12kg LPG cylinder price up Tk23
  • For the first time, Bangladesh seeks foreign loans to support Rohingyas
    For the first time, Bangladesh seeks foreign loans to support Rohingyas
  • Photo: Collected
    Indonesia volcano erupts, spews ash 3 km into sky
  • External trade through Islamic banks in decline
    External trade through Islamic banks in decline
  • Halal products export receives boost with new policy, but more is required
    Halal products export receives boost with new policy, but more is required
  • Exports up 27% in Nov as peak festival sales begin in West
    Exports up 27% in Nov as peak festival sales begin in West

Related News

  • India pushes to maintain military presence in the Maldives
  • Two IAF pilots killed in first Pilatus trainer aircraft crash in Hyderabad
  • China's military: US Navy ship 'illegally' entered territorial waters
  • Gautam Adani’s wealth swells by $5.6 billion on relief rally
  • Modi’s decisive win in state elections boosts India sentiment

Features

A brain drain query: Why do they leave?

A brain drain query: Why do they leave?

25m | Panorama
The school has been flooding since June 2007 and the water level is rising every year. PHOTO: COURTESY

Will Dubai pay heed to the suffering of Sultan Al Nahyan School students in Bangladesh?

30m | Panorama
Masud Ahmad has written one of the finest Bangla novels in recent times, titled ‘Kanchanfuler Kobi,’ centred around the life and works of eminent poet Jibanananda Das. Photo: Rajib Dhar

How little-known Masud Ahmad became the 'Shera Bangali'

1d | Panorama
Designed for utility, the D90 is a giant in comparison to other MG models and misses out on design elements which gives the other models their sporty stance. Photo: Akif Hamid

Maxus D90: Spacious, capable and practical

1d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

Despite the incentives, remittances are not speeding up

Despite the incentives, remittances are not speeding up

12h | TBS Economy
Terrible Torture in Israeli Prisons: Testimony of Prisoners

Terrible Torture in Israeli Prisons: Testimony of Prisoners

10h | TBS World
Lighterage ship trips halved

Lighterage ship trips halved

12h | TBS Economy
3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea

3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea

13h | TBS World
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]