Japan’s SoftBank is looking to sell $215 million worth of
shares in One97 Communications Limited, owner of the Paytm payments app, as the
fintech’s lock-in for pre-IPO investors ends later this week.

The investor is offering to sell 29 million shares or 4.5%
of Paytm at Rs 555 to Rs 601.45 per share, according to a report in Bloomberg.

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At the lower end of the band, it is a 7.7% discount to the
closing price of Rs 601.3 on Wednesday, November 16. If completed, the sale
will fetch SoftBank at least Rs 1,628.9 crore or $200 million. Bank of America
is the sole broker of the transaction.

As of September 30, SoftBank owned a 17.45% stake in the
fintech major through SVF India Holdings (Caymen) and after the sale on
Thursday its stake is likely to fall to 12.9%, according to the report.

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SoftBank had invested $1.6 billion in Paytm and had sold a
partial stake worth $200-250 million in the initial public offering (IPO) last
year.

SoftBank’s investment in Paytm is under losses, as the stock
has plunged over 72% from its issue price of Rs 2,150. Regulatory concerns and
continuous losses have affected the fintech’s fortunes in the stock market
after its Rs 18,300 crore IPO last year.

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The world’s biggest technology investor has been struggling
with declines in its portfolio of more than 400 investments in both public and
private tech companies around the world. The sale is the latest in a slew of
disinvestments that SoftBank has made in the past few months after its flagship
Vision Fund unit recorded nearly $50 billion in losses in just six months.

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Earlier this year, the Japanese investor raised $2.4 billion
selling shares in T-Mobile US. Vision Fund sold several assets in the
April-June quarter, including ride-sharing platform Uber and property platform
Opendoor Technologies, and KE Holdings, which operates China’s Beike – for a
realized gain of $5.6 billion.

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SoftBank’s holdings in Paytm, Policybazaar, and Delhivery
are currently worth $1.8 billion. It will gradually reduce its stake over the
next two years to not trigger a panic selling as the lock-in for pre-IPO
investors in the three companies ends over the next 10 days, according to a
report in Moneycontrol.

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The Masayoshi Son-led company has invested
around $11 billion in Indian start-ups through its Vision Funds and has made
investments of around $3.5 billion before that.