SoftBank and Alibaba to invest $445m in Paytm E-Commerce
SoftBank is investing $400 million in India’s Paytm E-Commerce, in a funding round that will value the firm at about $1.9 billion, according to Reuters.
In a regulatory filing discovered by Reuters, it has revealed that Alibaba, an existing investor in Paytm E-Commerce, is also putting in $45 million in the round.
SoftBank, as befits its size, is one of the major investors in India’s e-commerce market and already owns a stake in Paytm’s parent.
The Japanese bank confirmed investing in Paytm Mall, the brand name under which Paytm E-Commerce operates an online market place.
“We believe Paytm Mall’s offline-to-online operating model, combined with the strength of the Paytm ecosystem, is uniquely positioned to enable India’s 15 million offline retail shops to participate in India’s e-commerce boom,” SoftBank says in a statement.
In a separate statement, Amit Sinha, chief operating officer of Paytm Mall, explains that the company would deploy the latest investment from SoftBank and Alibaba to “beef up its technology and build superior logistics among other things”.
A filing with India’s Registrar of Companies shows SoftBank units will get a 21.1% stake in Paytm E-Commerce after the investment which would come in four tranches.
Alibaba.Com Singapore E-Commerce, which presently owns 36.3% of the Indian firm, will stay as the single-largest shareholder of Paytm E-Commerce but with a smaller stake of just over 30% after its latest investment is completed in four tranches.
As FinTech Futures reported last year, the battle for India’s e-commerce market was heating up.
Paytm revealed it was bringing the QR code scanning habit to the Indian masses, while rival Flipkart raised from $2.5 billion Japan’s SoftBank. Amazon also launched its digital wallet.
Also last year, in March, we reported that Paytm’s e-commerce raised $200 million in a funding round led by Alibaba – to muscle in on Amazon’s arena of action.
Alibaba and its associates are also the biggest shareholders in Indian mobile internet company One97 Communications, which has a stake in Paytm E-Commerce.
SoftBank is also one of the largest investors in another Indian firm, Snapdeal.
