One 97 Communications’ founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma has become the sole company’s significant beneficial owner (SBO) following a reduction in the shareholding of AntFin from an earlier 23.79% stake to 9.90%. Sharma now holds 19.42% stake in the Paytm operator.
The 19.42% stake in Paytm is by virtue of Sharma holding a 10.30% equity through an overseas entity Resilient Asset Management BV in which he holds 100% equity. The founder is the only SBO of the company now, consequent to the change of shareholding.
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“We have been informed by AntFin, that their shareholding in the company has reduced from 23.79% to 9.90% of the total equity share capital. Accordingly, no person affiliated with AntFin will qualify as a Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) of the company,” Paytm informed exchanges.
Earlier, Sharma reduced the shareholding of Chinese financial services major Ant Financial in the Indian fintech firm through an intricately structured deal that bestows on him more control over the Noida-headquartered company. In a regulatory filing in August, Paytm had said that Ant Financial Services has reduced its shareholding by 10.3%. The shares held through Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV were then transferred to Resilient Asset Management, another Netherlands-based entity 100% owned by Sharma.
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Based on the closing price of August 4, the shares were valued at $628 million, the company said.
As a result of this deal, Antfin’s shareholding in Paytm will drop to around 13% from almost 24%.
In lieu of the share transfer, Sharma’s Resilient Asset Management has issued OCDs or optionally convertible debentures to Antfin. Convertible debentures can be traded and converted into equity.
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In February, China’s Alibaba, the parent entity of Ant Financial sold its remaining 3% stake in Paytm through an open market deal. In 2021, Alibaba held a 7.3% stake in One97 Communications prior to the digital payment major going public.
One97 Communications is the parent company that owns Paytm.
