Alibaba sells $972m stake in payments firm

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (9988) yesterday sold a stake of 3.1 percent in Indian digital payments firm Paytm for the equivalent of HK$972.5 million through a block deal.

That led to shares of the company falling by as much as 8.8 percent to 528 rupees (HK$50.5) in afternoon trading on the National Stock Exchange of India.

Alibaba, which held a 6.26 percent stake in Paytm at the end of September, sold the stake at 536.95 rupees apiece.

Paytm's stock has risen about nine percent this year up to the previous close after reporting strong preliminary figures for the third quarter. It had closed 2022 with a 60 percent loss, despite the company announcing a share buyback in December.

Formally known as One97 Communications, Paytm listed in 2021 after a US$2.5 billion (HK$19.4 billion) initial public offer.

Since then the stock has plunged around 75 percent from its IPO offer price as investors started questioning the company's monetization plans amid worries about sky-high valuations of tech companies and fears of a global economic recession.

In November, Softbank sold a 4.5-percent stake in the e-payments firm worth US$200 million. SoftBank had a 17.5-percent stake in Paytm as of September 30.

Shares of Alibaba retreated 1.86 percent to HK$110.8 in Hong Kong yesterday after rebounding about 25 percent this year on China's reopening.

Reuters