Alibaba, SAIF invest $200m in India's Paytm

Citing filings with the Registrar of Companies, Livemint reported that Alibaba Singapore E-Commerce will invest $177 million to raise its stake in Paytm E-Commerce to 36.3%. SAIF will provide the rest of the round and will hold a 4.7% stake following the transaction.

Alibaba and its online finance affiliate Ant Financial Services Group are both existing investors in Paytm: Ant Financial bought a 25% stake in parent company One97 Communications in 2015 in a deal reportedly worth $550 million, and Alibaba bought a 20% stake later that year, after Paytm was spun off by One97. Alibaba’s investment reportedly lowered Ant Financials’ stake to 20%.

The investment is said to value Paytm E-Commerce at $1 billion. The entity was created last year in an effort by Paytm to differentiate its online marketplace from the better-known electronic wallet, which was incorporated into Paytm Payments Bank in December. Mountain Capital, the investment arm of Taiwan-based microchip manufacturer MediaTek, invested $60 million in Paytm at that time.

Alibaba’s renewed support comes shortly after the launch of a separate app and website for Paytm’s marketplace, branded as Paytm Mall. The portal faces stiff competition in India’s already-crowded e-commerce space from rival domestic players Flipkart and Snapdeal – which is also backed by Alibaba – along with global giant Amazon.

SAIF was an early backer of Paytm: the GP committed $8 million to the company alongside SVB India advisors in 2007, in the first institutional funding round for the company recorded by AVCJ Research. It later invested another $10 million in 2010 and $60 million in 2014.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Technology
• Consumer
• Expansion
• India
• Alibaba Group
• SAIF Partners
• TMT