Hong Kong
CNN
—
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has sold its remaining stake in India’s top digital payments app Paytm as it gradually pulls out of its investments in India amid friction between Beijing and New Delhi.
Alibaba.com Singapore E-commerce Private Ltd sold 21.43 million shares in Paytm’s parent company One 97 Communications for Rs.642.74, according to data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday. According to CNN calculations, the deal is worth around 13.77 billion rupees ($167 million).
In January, Alibaba sold about 3% of Paytm for $125 million, slashing its stake from 6.26%, according to NSE data.
In Friday’s transaction, the company sold all of its direct stake in Paytm.
One 97 Communications stock plunged nearly 8% on Friday. It bounced slightly on Monday morning. Alibaba and Paytm did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Founded in 2010, Paytm is India’s largest payment platform with over 300 million registered customers and over 20 million merchants. Backed by renowned investors such as Ant Group., Affiliates of Alibaba and Softbank
(SFTBF) And Warrent Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
(BRKA).
Alibaba and Ant Group made a “strategic” investment in Paytm in September 2015, as a continuation of Ant’s initial investment in February 2015.
At that time, Alibaba said the investment will enhance its ability to seize opportunities in India’s burgeoning mobile commerce market and digital finance industry. Paytm and Ant Group have been working on “synergies” since Ant made its initial investment, the company said.
Ant Group, which operates leading Chinese digital payment app Alipay, remains Paytm’s largest shareholder with a 25% stake, according to the latest data from Refinitiv Eikon.
Alibaba gradually pulled back from investing in India after New Delhi imposed restrictions in 2020 that made it difficult for Chinese investors to invest in Indian companies.
China and India share a disputed border and have long been a source of friction between New Delhi and Beijing. Tensions escalated sharply in June 2020, killing at least one of him in hand-to-hand combat between the two countries in the Himalayas. 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese soldiers.
In December of last year, the armies of India and China clashed again along the border — at the time, it was the first known incident between the two nuclear-armed Asian powers in about two years.
In early 2021, Alibaba sold a major stake in online grocery retailer BigBasket to Indian conglomerate Tata Group. In May 2022, Alibaba and Ant Group sold their entire stake in Paytm Mall, Paytm’s e-commerce platform. In November 2022, Ant Group reportedly sold his roughly 3% stake in Zomato for $200 million. Reuters.
Alibaba itself is also under pressure from domestic regulatory crackdowns and economic headwinds. A government campaign aimed at reining in the domestic tech giant, combined with a weak economy, has sharply slowed the company’s sales growth, sending its stock price crashing and making it more difficult to expand.
Last year, Alibaba posted flat revenue growth for the first time since going public in 2014.
