New-Delhi-based telecom giant Bharti Airtel is exploring opportunities to take a stake in the Noida-based fintech firm PayTM. Airtel is in talks with PayTM to sell its Airtel Payments Bank business in return for shares. This is as per the key stakeholders associated with the matter.
Airtel has also proposed an investment in PayTM, in it’s various business units. Though both the firms have not finalized the deal, it seems that they will soon do it in the coming weeks. As per people associated with the matter, the discussions have already involved bankers, who are looking into the opportunities.
A PayTM spokeperson, in a statement, revealed:
It must be noted that Airtel Payments Bank is a profitable arm of Bharti Airtel which boasts more than 130 million customers. Due to the similar industry business, there is a customer overlap between the two financial tech firms, the sources said.
PayTM and It’s DowntimeÂ
PayTM is among the top startups in India that has gone public in the past couple of years. Some of the other startups include the likes of Nykaa, Zomato, and PolicyBazaar, all of whom have performed poorly. Traders and financial experts have raised their concerns over their poor performance even when the overall India’s benchmark index is performing good.
When PayTM listed itself in the year 2021 in the market, it has faced a massive downtime of its shares. Since the debut, PayTM’s shares have dipped more than 60%, which is a big concern not only for the investors and owners, but also for the whole tech and startup fraternity.
PhonePe, the fintech startup backed by Walmart, is a direct competitors to PayTM. However, it achieved the valuation of $12 billion compared to PayTM’s market cap of $4.8 billion. PayTM’s Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma has set an annual revenue target of $1 billion, to be achieved by March.
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