Gautam Adani in talks with Vijay Shekhar Sharma to acquire stake in Paytm: 'Finalising contours of deal'

The report claimed that talked between Gautam Adani and Vijay Shekhar Sharma have been going on for a while.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in One 97 Communications, which operates Paytm. A report in the Times of India claimed, citing people in the know, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma met Gautam Adani at the latter's office in Ahmedabad on May 28 to “finalise the contours of a deal”. In case the deal is finalised, the Adani Group would enter the fintech sector competing against Google Pay, PhonePe and Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial.

Gautam Adani speaks during an interview in Ahmedabad. (Reuters)

In a clarification issued on the bourses, Paytm said, "We hereby clarify that the abovementioned news item is speculative and the Company is not engaged in any discussions in this regard. We have always made and will continue to make disclosures in compliance with our obligations under the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015."

Currently, Vijay Shekhar Sharma owns about 19 per cent in One 97 directly and holds another 10 per cent through a foreign entity Resilient Asset Management. Both are listed as public shareholders. Other significant shareholders of One 97 are Saif Partners (15%), Antfin Netherlands (10%) and the company's directors (9%). One 97 has a market cap of ₹21,773 crore and started out as a recharge platform before moving its payment and merchant acquiring business to Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) which faced action by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

What report claimed on Gautam Adani-Paytm deal?

The report claimed that talked between Gautam Adani and Vijay Shekhar Sharma have been going on for a while. Gautam Adani is also in talks with funds from West Asia to bring them as investors in One 97, it added.

Katalyst Advisors' executive director Binoy Parikh said as per TOI, “With the financial strain and regulatory bottlenecks that Paytm is facing, aligning with Adani Group would provide the robust financial backing needed to address regulatory compliance issues and stabilise its operations. For Adani, integrating Paytm's established digital payments platform into their diverse business portfolio would enhance their digital footprint and accelerate their ambition to become a leading player in the fintech space.”