Paytm sells its stake in PayPay for $279.2 million to SoftBank

Before the sale of the PayPay stake, which Paytm received as part of a partnership in 2018, the Indian company had already sold its entertainment ticketing division to Zomato for $246 million as part of a restructuring, TechCrunch recalls. .

PayPay, controlled by SoftBank and Yahoo Japan’s parent company Z Holdings, is the leading payments app in Japan. The share sale will increase Paytm’s cash reserves by over $1.4 billion.

In January, Indian regulators imposed severe restrictions on Paytm’s banking division, prompting an exodus of customers to rival services. And now the company is trying to regain its share in the country’s highly competitive digital payments market.

Paytm shares have nearly tripled since June after the payments regulator allowed the company to resume attracting customers to its flagship UPI service.

The company reported its first quarterly profit in September, although it was mainly driven by proceeds from asset sales rather than improved operating performance.

The deal, closed on Saturday, marks the end of Paytm’s partnership with SoftBank. People close to both companies said the Japanese group appears to be looking to move away from India’s consumer technology sector.