Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has sold a 3.1% stake in the Indian digital payments firm Paytm through a block trade executed on Thursday.
This sale reduces Alibaba’s stake from 6.26% as of September 2022 by nearly half. It follows Paytm’s announcement in December of a $103 million share buyback aimed at addressing its underwhelming stock performance. By the end of 2022, Paytm’s stock price had dropped 60% compared to its value at the start of the year.
US investment bank Morgan Stanley acted as the sole placement agent for the block trade, with sources indicating to Reuters that the shares were sold at 536.95 rupees each, reflecting a 7.3% discount from the previous closing price.
Paytm previously raised $2.5 billion during its IPO, which was the largest in India’s history in 2021 on the Mumbai stock exchange (BSE). However, the company’s shares fell by 27% on their market debut.