Paytm Plans to Launch India’s Biggest IPO by the End of this Year: Report

Leading digital payments service provider Paytm is preparing to launch India’s biggest IPO, with a goal to raise $3 billion, by the end of this year. The development was confirmed from a reliable resource familiar with the deal to Bloomberg.

Paytm, which is backed by investors like Ant Group, Berkshire Hathaway and Soft Bank Group Corporation, has scheduled its listing around November, that is during the Diwali festival season. Plus, Paytm is targeting a valuation of around $25 to $30 billion with the IPO.

Although Paytm has not commented on the report, there are high chances that the company would soon release an official statement about the public offering.  If the plan is approved, Paytm’s maiden share sale would be higher than Coal India’s offering, which relieved more than 150 billion rupees in 2010 — the country’s largest IPO till date. 

Banks shortlisted to run the Paytm IPO including Morgan Stanley, CitiGroup Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Morgan Stanley is currently the leading contender. The public issue will include a mix of new and existing shares in order to satisfy regulatory obligations.

There are a lot of digital payment companies operating in India at the moment, Paytm has the biggest market share amongst all of them. Paytm has over 20 million merchant partners and its users make an average of 1.4 billion monthly transactions, as per the reports. 

Paytm, led by CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, has been focusing on tamping up revenue and monetizing its other offerings over the past year. The company, which started off as an online payment wallet, has now forayed into banking, credit cards, financial services, wealth management, UPI and other services. 

There are a lot of digital payment companies operating in India at the moment, Paytm has the biggest market share amongst all of them. Paytm has over 20 million merchant partners and its users make an average of 1.4 billion monthly transactions, as per the reports.

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