Ant Group Sells 4% Paytm Stake Reducing Holding to 5.85%

Ant Group, the fintech arm of Alibaba, has sold a 4% stake in Indian payments company Paytm through an open market sale, raising approximately Rs 2,103 crore ($246 million). The transaction involved the sale of around 25.5 million shares at prices near Rs 823, representing a 5% to 6.5% discount to Paytm's recent closing prices, and was managed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Following this sale, Ant Group's holding in Paytm has decreased from 9.85% to 5.85%, continuing its gradual divestment trend that includes previous stake reductions and a sale of a 10.3% stake to Paytm's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Paytm's shares experienced a decline during trading but maintained a strong market capitalization of around Rs 54,634 crore ($6.4 billion). Despite a recent consolidated loss reported for the March 2025 quarter, Paytm's management expressed optimism about approaching profitability in upcoming quarters. This stake sale reflects broader adjustments in investor positions within the evolving Indian fintech sector, with other major shareholders like Berkshire Hathaway and SoftBank having also reduced their stakes.