New Delhi: Paytm, the country’s largest online payments company, is aiming to raise as much as $3 billion ( Rs21,700 crore) by selling shares to the public by the end of this year. Owned by One97 Communications, the board persons will meet on Friday to discuss plans to raise money via issue offer, according to business publication Mint report.
Touted as the biggest issue ever, the parent company of Paytm is looking to hire investment banks for its initial share sale, and a few law firms have already been appointed to help with regulatory aspects, as per the sources of the publication. Also Read: Dominica Halts Mehul Choksi's Extradition To India After Lawyers File Petition, Says Businessman Abducted
The eight-member board will meet virtually to approve the $3 billion issue. The company aims to get listed in November, as per the report. The company is also in the process of finalising bankers for the issue, with Morgan Stanley likely to emerge as the strongest contender.
The company is expected to finalize the details for the IPO in the next four weeks and work towards submitting its draft IPO documents later this year with financial details for the year ended 31 March.
One97 Communications has major global investors including SoftBank, Ant Financial and Berkshire Hathaway, and will aspire to a valuation of $22 billion to $24 billion (around Rs1.74 trillion) from the India listing, as per the Mint sources.
Paytm began its operations as a bill-payments, mobile recharge platform in 2010. It went on to launch a mobile wallet in 2014. The company witnessed massive growth over a period of time and aiming to acquire market share across a spectrum of financial services including mutual funds, wealth management, stock trading and insurance services. It has also applied for a New Umbrella Entity (NUE) license, as part of a consortium comprising Ola, IndusInd Bank, Zeta, Suryoday Small Finance, among others. It has also applied for a general insurance license.