Reliance Capital has sold its nearly 1% stake in Paytm for Rs 275 crore to China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba group. The financial services arm of Anil Ambani-led group had invested Rs 10 crore for this stake in Paytm.
In December last year,Paytm Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar had sold 1% from his stake in the parent company for about Rs 325 crore, valuing it at about Rs 32,500 crore ($4.8 billion). Last week it was reported that Alibaba along with investment firm SAIF Partners, is also slated to invest $200 million in Paytm’s online marketplace unit.
Last year, Paytm had split its e-commerce business from its larger payments unit to create two separate entities-Paytm E-Commerce and Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. One97 Communications has three units: Paytm e-commerce, Paytm Payments Bank (payments bank and mobile wallet service) and Paytm Mobile Solutions. Alibaba has been expected to foray into Indian e-commerce market since last year.