Billionaire businessman Warren Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway has sold its entire stake in digital payment company Paytm. The global firm ended up selling 2.46 percent stake in Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications at a hefty loss.
Berkshire Hathaway sold its stake in Paytm through its affiliate company BH International Holdings. Over 1.56 crore shares of the fintech firm Paytm were sold on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at a loss of ₹620 crore.
The company had acquired 2.6 per cent stake in Paytm for ₹1,279.7 per share at an aggregate value of ₹2,179 crore, as per an official document. The shares were disposed of on Friday at an average price of ₹877.29 apiece, taking the transaction value to ₹1,370.63 crore, according the data available on the NSE.
While 2.46 percent out of the total 2.6 has been unloaded by Warren Buffet’s multi-billion dollar firm, it is not yet ascertained when the entity had offloaded the 0.14 per cent stake.
After BH International Holdings exited the fintech company, the shares of parent firm One97 Communications declined around 3% to close at ₹895 apiece.
In October, Fintech company One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, reported the narrowing of consolidated loss to ₹291.7 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The company had posted a loss of ₹571.5 crore in the year-ago period.
The consolidated revenue from operations of the company increased about 32 per cent to ₹2,518.6 crore during the quarter from ₹1,914 crore a year ago.
The shares offloaded by Buffet’s company were bought by Copthall Mauritius Investment and Ghisallo Master Fund, which ended up purchasing 1.19% and 0.67% stake respectively.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks and shadow banks to maintain higher capital buffers, Paytm has had to tighten its ship amid recent changes in its finances.
With inputs from PTI