• Source:JND
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Paytm:  In response to the speculations of Gautam Adani buying a stake in Paytm, One97 Communications, Paytm's parent company, clarified that the company is not engaged in any talks to sell a stake to the Adani group. We have always made disclosures in compliance with our obligations under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, and will continue to do so, the company said.

Earlier,  several reports citing sources claimed that Gautam Adani wanted to acquire a stake in Paytm's parent company One97 Communications. the reports were also claiming that Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma met Adani at his Ahmedabad office on Tuesday to finalize the deal. The media reports were speculating that if the deal is successful then it will be the Adani Group's entry into the fintech sector, which will rival Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe, and Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial.

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As of Tuesday till market closing, Sharma holds a 19 percent stake in One 97 communication, which is worth Rs 4,218 crore. Sharma holds a 9 percent stake in Paytm directly and a 10 percent stake through foreign firm Resilient Asset Management. According to documents filed by One97 with the stock exchanges, both Sharma and Resilient are listed as public shareholders.

As per SEBI rules, a person who holds less than a 25 percent stake in a target company has to make an open offer for a minimum of 26 percent stake in the company. The acquirer can also make an open offer for the company's entire share capital.

Meanwhile, media sources are claiming that talks between Adani and Sharma have been going on for a while now. They said that Adani is also in talks with funds from West Asia to bring them in as investors in One97 Communication, which has pioneered mobile payments in the country. Founded by Sharma in 2007, One97 Communication IPO was the second-largest in the country and has a market capitalization of Rs 21,773 crore.

Other major shareholders of One97 are private equity fund SAIF Partners (15%), Antfin Netherlands founded by Jack Ma (10 percent), and the company's directors (9 percent). 

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