Antfin to sell further 3.6% stake in Paytm; reduce shareholding to less than 10%

Antfin is set to sell 3.6 per cent shares in Paytm, post which its shareholding in the company will reduce to 9.9 per cent.

Earlier this month, Ant had sold a 10.3 per cent stake to Resilient, an overseas entity 100 per cent owned by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

With this, Sharma becomes the sole Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) of Paytm. As per Indian laws, 10 per cent is a crucial threshold limit for deciding who is an SBO of a company. Sharma's current stake in the company is 19.42 per cent.

The sale of 3.6 per cent is significant for Paytm as it will find it easier to procure Indian regulatory approvals for its expansion plans. Furthermore, the reduction of Antfin's shareholding to 9.9 per cent and the change of Paytm's SBO to Sharma, will remove the overhang of Chinese shareholding.

Henceforth, Paytm will have greater flexibility with higher Indian shareholding to expand its business, make investments and procure regulatory approvals.

Paytm shareholders may also benefit because the higher free float and greater weightage improve the chance for Paytm's inclusion in the MSCI index.