Shares of One97 Communications Limited, the parent company of fintech major Paytm, fell as much as 10% to their lowest since May after Japan’s SoftBank Group offered to sell its stake in the company.

About 29.5 million shares, equivalent to 4.5% of the company’s equity capital, were traded in a single block deal on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), according to a report in Bloomberg. The development comes immediately after the lock-in period for Paytm’s investors to trade shares ended. SoftBank is the second largest shareholder with a 17.5% stake in the company. 

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SoftBank has offered to sell shares in the price band of Rs 555 to Rs 601.55 per share that are held through its subsidiary SVF India Holdings. The Masayoshi Sen-led company aims to raise around $200 million at the lower end of the price band of Rs 555.

Paytm shares made their stock market entry on November 18, 2021, and the share has lost over 72% since its listing amid the global tech slowdown that started last year.

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The stock ended 64.85 points or 10.78% down at Rs 10.78 on the BSE. A total of 32.41 lakh shares changed hands on the index against a two-week average of 1.24 lakh shares on BSE.

Paytm was listed at Rs 1955, a discount of Rs 9.07 compared with the initial public offering (IPO) price of Rs 2150. The IPO was subscribed 1.89 times. The issue opened for bidding on November 8 and it closed on November 10, 2022. The price band for the IPO was fixed at Rs 2080-2150 per share.

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As of September 30, 2022, SoftBank owned a 17.45% stake in One97 Communications through SVF India Holdings (Cayman). The Japanese investor had invested $1.6 billion in Paytm and had sold a partial stake worth $225-250 million in the IPO last year.

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Paytm’s net loss in the July-September period widened to Rs 571 crore against Rs 473 crore in the year-ago period. However, the losses narrowed to Rs 650 crore in the previous quarter of April-June 2022. Its consolidated revenue from operations increased by around 76% to Rs 1,914 crore during the reported quarter, boosted by an acceleration in the lending business, rebound in payment services to merchants, and rise in cloud revenue, from Rs 1,086 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

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Paytm’s chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma in a letter to shareholders earlier this week said that the company is on the right track to profitability and free cash flows, after its recent quarterly reports which showed strong operating leverage and reduction in EBITDA losses.