Paytm denies report of SoftBank and Ant's secondary stock deal, says firm not part of any such negotiations

The stock exchanges had sought a clarification from Paytm after it was reported by The Economic Times that China's Ant Group and Japan's SoftBank were looking to sell their shares in the company through a secondary sale. Masayoshi Son's SoftBank with 13.24 per cent and Alibaba's affiliate Antfin with 25.47 per cent shares are two of the biggest stakeholders of Paytm.

Under Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, a listed company is required to regularly intimate the stock exchanges of any events that have a bearing on its performance or operations.

"We reiterate that whenever there is any material development with respect to the affairs of the Company, which obligates us to make disclosure under Regulation 30 of the SEBI Listing Regulations, we will intimate the stock exchanges within prescribed timelines," the company has said in its stock exchange filing.

Paytm continues to be on a strong organic growth path. The company has achieved operating profitability in Q3FY23 (October-December 2022-23), much ahead of its September 2023 guidance-driven revenue growth across businesses, disciplined cost management and operating leverage. Paytm's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) before employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) cost stood at Rs 31 crore with Ebitda before ESOP margin at 2 per cent of revenues as compared to (27 per cent) a year ago.