The Japanese investment giant led by Masayoshi Son had invested over $1 billion in Paytm and held about 18% stake in the firm at the time of its closure. IPO In 2021, it has been reducing its stake in the company through a series of open market transactions. At the end of March, SoftBank held about 1.4% stake in Paytm.
After SoftBank's stake reduction, total foreign direct investment Shareholding in the company declined by 2% to 37.7%. Paytm said the June quarter saw an increase in shareholding by domestic investors, including mutual funds and retail shareholders. “Shareholding by retail investors increased from 15.3% to 16.5% on a sequential basis, while mutual funds increased their stake to 6.8% in Q1 FY25 from 6.1% in Q4 FY24, led by Mirae Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund. As a result, domestic institutional investors witnessed a 0.29% increase in stake from 6.86% to 7.15%, indicating confidence in the company's growth prospects,” Paytm said.
Paytm has come under regulatory scrutiny after the RBI found compliance lapses in its banking unit and imposed stringent restrictions on the entity. The company disclosed a wider loss of Rs 550.5 crore in Q4 FY24, saying it expects the full impact of the RBI action to hit business in the first quarter of FY25. Share price of Paytm closed 2.4% lower at Rs 467 on BSE on Friday.