One97 Communications, the India-based, corporate-backed owner of payments service Paytm, is set to raise Rs 183bn ($2.5bn) in its initial public offering, according to a prospectus filed today.
The share allocation is set to be completed on November 15, three days before the listing is scheduled to take place on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE exchange. The shares were each priced at the top of the IPO’s Rs 2,080 to Rs 2,150 ($27.94 to $28.88) range.
The offering will involve One97 issuing $1.1bn in equity shares to the anchor investors and offering up to $1.3bn for sale. It will be valued at up to $18.7bn, potentially representing the largest IPO in India in the past 10 years.
Paytm allotted shares to anchor investors last week, and conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, e-commerce firm Alibaba and its financial services affiliate Ant Group are among its selling shareholders.
Blackrock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also subscribed to the offering, paying $140m and $126m respectively, as did Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, GIC, APG, NPS Japan, University of Texas, City of New York, University of Cambridge, UBS and Standard Life Aberdeen.
Founded in 2000, One97 provides transaction services for e-commerce merchants and consumers through its Paytm app, which was launched in 2010. In addition to its home country, it also operates in the Middle East and Africa.
The company will use the proceeds of the offering to create additional business lines and conduct strategic acquisitions.
Paytm had closed a $1bn series G round in late 2019 that included telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, Alibaba, T Rowe Price and Discovery Capital Management that valued it at $16bn and which lifted its total funding to more than $3.3bn.
Alibaba paid $250m for a 4.3% stake in the company from Reliance Capital, Sapphire Ventures and Saama Capital in 2017, after SoftBank had provided $1.4bn to boost its stake to 20% earlier in the same year. Chipmaker Intel (through its Intel Capital unit) and Silicon Valley Bank are also shareholders.
