Paytm raises Rs 8,235 crore from anchor investors

Paytm has raised Rs 8,235 crore from anchor investors including Blackrock, CPPIB, Birla MF, GIC among other blue-chip investors, already securing 45 percent of its Rs 18,300 crore initial public offering.

The company informed this to the stock exchanges late on November 3.

The round was oversubscribed 10 times by 74 investors, according to people privy to the development.

While Blackrock invested Rs 1,045 crore, CPPIB and GIC invested Rs 938 crore and Rs 533 crore, respectively.

Other participants in the round include top pension funds, superannuation funds as well as sovereign wealth funds such as the government of Singapore, ADIA, APG, City of New York, Texas Teachers Retirement, NPS Japan, University of Texas, NTUC Pension out of Singapore and University of Cambridge.

Paytm was expected to raise Rs 8,250 crore from anchor investors including Blackrock, CPPIB and GIC.

The biggest initial public offer in the history of the Indian capital markets by Paytm is poised for a post-Diwali launch between November 8 and 10.

The price band for the IPO has been kept in the range of Rs 2,080- Rs 2,150.

Paytm is currently India's second most-valuable internet company, last valued at $16 billion when it raised a billion dollars in November 2019 led by T Rowe Price, Discovery Capital and D1 Capital.

The public offer is expected to take the company's valuation to $20 billion.

As of June 30, 2021, the total user base of the company increased to 337 million. It also claims to have over 21.8 million registered merchants on its platform.

For the three months ended June 2021, Paytm has seen a huge uptick in its revenues driven by its payments and financial services offerings.

The company‘s revenue was up by 46 percent to Rs 948 crore in the first quarter of financial year 2022 from Rs 649 crore in the like period of the previous financial year. Paytm’s losses stood at Rs 382 crore for the three months ended June 2021.

Currently, Paytm is betting big on its lending vertical. And as per its RHP in the second quarter of financial year 2022, it disbursed 2.84 million loans.