One97 Communications

July 9 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - PAYTM ENTERS PARTNERSHIP WITH FLIP AND PT DUTA TEKNOLOGI KREATIF IN INDONESIA

• PAYTM - PAYTM TO PROVIDE DEVICE HARDWARE, TECHNOLOGY AND MAKE MINORITY INVESTMENT IN DTK

Source text: ID:nBSE9DdCHP

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

July 3 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - UNIT PAYTM EUROPE GRANTED PAYMENT INSTITUTION LICENCE EFFECTIVE JULY 02, 2026

Source text: ID:nBSEbzfthW

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

Adds details throughout on Jio Platforms

MUMBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms filed regulatory papers for an IPO on Friday that sources said would raise about $3.8 billion, making it the country's biggest-ever stock offering.

Another IPO that is in the pipeline - by the National Stock Exchange of India - is likely to be worth about $3.3 billion.

Here are the five largest Indian IPOs to date:

HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA

Hyundai HYUN.NS, the world's third-largest automaker and India's fourth-biggest passenger vehicle maker, raised 278.7 billion rupees ($2.95 billion) in October 2024 in what is currently India's biggest-ever IPO.

The manufacturer's South Korean parent 005380.KS sold a 17.5% stake in a pure offer-for-sale, where existing shareholders sell shares and no new capital is raised. Jio Platforms is expected to use a similar approach, with the company's major investors set to dilute their stakes.

LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

The government pocketed roughly 205 billion rupees ($2.17 billion) from selling a 3.5% stake in India's largest insurer and biggest domestic financial investor LIFI.NS, a far cry from its initial target of up to $12 billion.

The shares slid nearly 8% on their debut.

PAYTM

Paytm PAYT.NS, an Indian fintech firm, raised 183 billion rupees in November 2021 in a mix of a fresh share issue and an offer for sale. Ant Group reduced its stake to 23% from 28% and SoftBank's Vision Fund pared its holding to 16%.

Paytm lost more than 27% on its debut, the biggest listing-day drop in Indian IPO history at the time.

TATA CAPITAL

The Tata Group's financial services arm TATC.NS raised 155 billion rupees in October 2025, with Tata Sons and IFC among those selling in the offer for sale component alongside a fresh issue. The IPO was the largest-ever by a non-banking financial company in India. The shares listed at a slight premium of 1.23%.

LG ELECTRONICS INDIA

South Korean parent LG Electronics 066570.KS offloaded a 15% stake in its Indian unit LGEL.NS, a maker of refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and televisions, in a pure offer for sale issue, netting 116 billion rupees in October 2025.

The IPO was oversubscribed 54 times - the most heavily subscribed major Indian IPO since Reliance Power's listing in 2008 - attracting bids worth about 4.4 trillion rupees.

LG's shares surged 50% on their first day of trading, valuing the unit higher than its Seoul-based parent.

($1 = 94.3800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma and Jayshree P. Upadhyay in Mumbai; Editing by AdityaKate Mayberry and Kevin Buckland)

(([email protected];))

Updates to add IPO filing by NSE

MUMBAI, June 18 (Reuters) - The National Stock Exchange of India has filed draft papers for a long-delayed listing that will be one of two mega initial public offerings in the country this year, alongside billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio.

NSE's IPO is likely to be worth $3.3 billion, based on its share price in private markets, and comes after years of regulatory delays. Existing investors will sell 6% of the company's equity as part of the issue, which will be a pure offer-for-sale with no fresh equity being raised.

Ambani's AI-to-telecoms arm Reliance Jio Platforms is also gearing up for a stock offering that will likely be India's biggest ever.

Sources told Reuters in January that the IPO could be worth as much as $4 billion, though final numbers will only be decided later. In November, investment bank Jefferies estimated that Reliance Jio's valuation stood at $180 billion.

Here are the five largest Indian IPOs of all time before NSE and Jio Platforms:

HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA

Hyundai HYUN.NS, the world's third-largest automaker and India's fourth-biggest passenger vehicle maker, raised 278.7 billion Indian rupees ($2.95 billion) in October 2024 in India's largest-ever IPO.

The manufacturer's South Korean parent 005380.KS sold a 17.5% stake in a pure offer-for-sale, where existing shareholders sell shares and no new capital is raised. Jio Platforms is expected to use a similar approach, with the company's major investors expected to dilute their stakes.

LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

The government pocketed roughly 205 billion Indian rupees from selling a 3.5% stake in India's largest insurer and biggest domestic financial investor LIFI.NS, a far cry from its initial target of up to $12 billion.

The shares slid nearly 8% on their debut.

PAYTM

Paytm PAYT.NS, India's fintech firm, raised 183 billion Indian rupees in November 2021 in a mix of a fresh share issue and an offer for sale. Ant Group reduced its stake to 23% from 28% and SoftBank's Vision Fund pared its holding to 16%.

Paytm lost more than 27% on its debut, the biggest listing-day drop in Indian IPO history at the time.

TATA CAPITAL

The Tata Group's financial services arm TATC.NS raised 155 billion Indian rupees in October 2025, with Tata Sons and IFC among those selling in the offer for sale component alongside a fresh issue. The IPO was the largest-ever by a non-banking financial company in India.

The shares listed at a slight premium of 1.23%.

LG ELECTRONICS INDIA

South Korean parent LG Electronics 066570.KS offloaded a 15% stake in its Indian unit LGEL.NS, a maker of refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and televisions, in a pure offer for sale issue, netting 116 billion Indian rupees in October 2025.

The IPO was oversubscribed 54 times - the most heavily subscribed major Indian IPO since Reliance Power's listing in 2008 - attracting bids worth about 4.4 trillion rupees.

LG's shares surged 50% on their first day of trading, valuing the unit higher than its Seoul-based parent.

($1 = 94.3800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma and Jayshree P. Upadhyay in Mumbai; Editing by Aditya Kalra, Kate Mayberry and Kevin Buckland)

(([email protected];))

June 4 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - APPROVES DEFAULT LOSS GUARANTEE OF UP TO 900 MILLION RUPEES WITH EACH LENDING PARTNER

• PAYTM - TO PROVIDE DEFAULT LOSS GUARANTEE OF UP TO 900 MILLION RUPEES TO MUTHOOT FINCORP, KISETSU SAISON FINANCE

Source text: ID:nBSEblL02s

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

May 22 (Reuters) - India's Ambuja Cements, Tube Investments Of India, Colgate Palmolive Dropped From Bse 100 Index .BSE100:

• INDIA'S ASHOK LEYLAND, PAYTM AND CG POWER AND INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS ADDED TO BSE 100 INDEX - BSE

• BSE

• BSE INDICES REJIG TO BE EFFECTIVE AT THE OPEN OF JUNE 22, 2026 - BSE

• BSE INDICES REJIG TO BE EFFECTIVE AT THE OPEN OF JUNE 22, 2026 - BSE

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: .BSE100

(([email protected];))

** Indian fintech firm Paytm's PAYT.NS shares rise 4.6% to 1,161 rupees

** Co swings to Q4 profit of 1.84 billion rupees from loss of 5.4 billion rupees a year earlier

** Co expects revenue growth in FY27 to be higher than the 22% delivered in FY26

** Expects margins to improve further in FY27

** Revenue from operations rose 18.4% to 22.64 billion rupees during the quarter

** Revenue growth was led by financial services and the revenue momentum can support earnings, Jefferies says

** Thirteen of 19 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher; their median PT is 1,382 rupees

** YTD, stock down 14.1%

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Adds details throughout

BENGALURU, May 6 (Reuters) - Indian fintech firm Paytm PAYT.NS said it expects to grow faster in fiscal 2027 than in the previous year, banking on gains in market share in merchant and consumer payments and growth in the distribution of its financial services.

The company also expects its margins to expand in the current financial year, helped by tight control on indirect expenses such as marketing and software costs.

"Revenue growth in FY 2027 expected to be higher than the 22% delivered in FY 2026 and indirect expenses will grow meaningfully slower than revenue," Paytm said in a statement.

Following the central bank-mandated curbs on its payments bank in 2024, the company has refocused on its broader payments and financial services distribution businesses, driving growth through a shift toward higher-quality merchants and more scalable, fee-based revenue streams.

The digital payments firm posted consolidated net profit of 1.84 billion rupees for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of 5.4 billion rupees a year earlier.

In the year-ago quarter, its results were affected by a one-time expense on charges related to CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma giving up his employee stock options.

Revenue from operations rose 18.4% to 22.64 billion rupees year-on-year, driven by a 21% increase in payments services and a 38% rise in financial services distribution revenue.

Contribution margin, a key profitability metric, stood at 55%, compared with 56% a year earlier.

However, profitability was impacted by the discontinuation of the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), a scheme by the Reserve Bank of India that subsidised deployment of payment devices.

Growth and profitability improved substantially, excluding the impact of the scheme, the company said.

Separately, the RBI last month cancelled Paytm Payments Bank's licence, citing persistent compliance lapses.

Paytm said the move has had no impact on its business or financials.

($1 = 94.6100 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Surbhi Misra; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Shreya Biswas)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Paytm parent One 97 Communications PAYT.NS fall 6.6% to 1,062 rupees, set for a fourth consecutive session of losses, if current trend holds

** Reserve Bank of India cancels licence for Paytm payments bank

** RBI says Paytm payments bank failed to comply with the conditions stipulated in the payments bank licence issued to it

** Adds "no useful purpose or public interest would be served" by allowing Paytm payments bank to continue

** Brokerage Bernstein says while the immediate impact on the core business and near-term estimates looks limited, the nature of the action and the language used in RBI's directive raise important concerns

** "We see risks that in future it may become harder for Paytm to obtain any potential licenses from RBI," brokerage BofA says

** YTD, PAYT down 11.7%

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

April 24 (Reuters) -

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA: RBI CANCELS THE LICENCE OF PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA: RBI CANCELS LICENCE OF PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA: PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED HAS ENOUGH LIQUIDITY TO REPAY ITS ENTIRE DEPOSIT LIABILITY UPON WINDING UP OF THE BANK

• RBI: RBI WILL MAKE APPLICATION FOR WINDING UP OF BANK BEFORE THE HIGH COURT

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA: "NO USEFUL PURPOSE OR PUBLIC INTEREST WOULD BE SERVED" BY ALLOWING THE PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK TO CONTINUE

• RBI: PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED IS PROHIBITED FROM CONDUCTING THE BUSINESS OF ‘BANKING’

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA: PAYTM PAYMENTS BANK FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS STIPULATED IN THE PAYMENTS BANK LICENSE ISSUED TO IT

(([email protected];))

April 15 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - PAYTM BECOMES INDIAN OWNED AND CONTROLLED COMPANY

Source text: ID:nBSEbQBSJ4

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

March 11 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - NPCI REVISES TPAP AND PAYER PSP FEES FOR RUPAY CREDIT CARD ON UPI EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2026

• PAYTM - TPAP FEE FOR RUPAY CREDIT CARD ON UPI REDUCED TO 6 BPS NON INDUSTRY, 3 BPS INDUSTRY

• PAYTM - CIRCULAR HAS NO IMPACT ON MERCHANT ACQUIRING REVENUE

• PAYTM - CIRCULAR DOES NOT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON MERCHANT MDR

Source text: ID:nBSE1rbhC6

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Jaspreet Kalra

MUMBAI, March 4 (Reuters) - Walmart-backed Indian fintech firm PhonePe PHOP.NS, the country's most used payments platform, is aiming to list at a valuation of between $9 billion and $10.5 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

That suggests the IPO will raise about $900 million to $1.05 billion. But even at the top end, the deal would mark a cut from the $12 billion valuation at which PhonePe last raised $100 million in private markets in 2023.

Walmart WMT.N will trim its stake in PhonePe by ‌about 12% in the firm's initial public offering, while Tiger Global and Microsoft MSFT.O plan to exit their stakes, according to the firm's IPO filing.

The three firms will sell around 50.7 million shares in the ⁠offering and PhonePe will not issue any new shares.

PhonePe, which competes with Google Pay and Paytm PAYT.NS in India, filed for its IPO in September and aims to complete the process by April, one of the sources said, although the timeline could shift depending on capital market conditions, including any impact from the Middle East conflict.

Both sources requested anonymity as the discussions are confidential. PhonePe, Walmart, Tiger Global, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The expected valuation of PhonePe, which means "on the phone" in Hindi, and timing of the issue have not been previously reported.

PhonePe's listing would make it India's second-largest fintech IPO, behind Paytm's about $20 billion listing in 2021.

Paytm currently trades at a market capitalization of $7.1 billion.

'MONETISATION REMAINS A QUESTION MARK'

PhonePe has more than 650 million registered users and processed nearly 10 billion of the 21.7 billion transactions on India's unified payments interface (UPI) in January, regulatory data showed. But payments in India remain a low-margin business.

India launched UPI in 2016 and barred companies from charging fees for the instant payment service to spur digital payments and reduce cash use in Asia's No.3 economy.

PhonePe's losses widened to 14.44 billion rupees ($158 million) in the six months ended September 30, from 12.03 billion rupees a year ago, while revenue rose about 22% to 39.18 billion rupees, the firm's IPO filing showed.

Two portfolio managers, who met the company's management in pre-IPO roadshows, said excitement around the country's fintech sector had cooled and that there were lingering questions around PhonePe's ability to monetise its user base - a key reason it may not achieve a valuation closer to its last funding round.

"Monetisation remains a question mark. Active users aren't growing at the same pace so the game is all about upsell and that remains to be seen," one of the portfolio managers said.

Investors also see India's fintech market as overcrowded with little differentiation among players, said a third source, a banker to the issue.

These sources also spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.

($1 = 92.1730 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra in Mumbai; additional reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

(([email protected]; +91-8769636545;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Hudson Lockett

HONG KONG, March 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Initial public offerings often lean on growth potential in their sales pitch, but the one made by PayPay looks particularly ambitious. The Japanese payments and credit card provider is selling itself in its U.S. listing prospectus as a future one-stop finance super app. Hitting a $20 billion valuation sought by SoftBank Group 9984.T founder Masayoshi Son will require convincing investors the firm is primed to become much greater than the sum of its parts.

The business, which turned profitable in 2025, does have promise: monthly active users rose more than 10% to 40 million in the year to December 31, with 11 million actively using the company’s credit cards. Its performance over the last nine months of 2025 points to annualised revenue of 371 billion yen ($2.4 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31, up almost a quarter year-on-year. Pretax net profit margin came in at 21.9% for the nine-month period, up from 12.6% in 2024.

At Son's hoped-for valuation, PayPay would be worth 8.4 times its sales, five times the multiple carried by U.S. peer PayPal PYPL.O—which is itself on the M&A radar of payments firm Stripe, per Bloomberg. It’s logical, then, for PayPay to play up a “broader mission of offering a comprehensive digital finance experience” with presumably juicier margins.

Results from PayPay’s cross-promotion between payments, cards and banking show promise: average monthly transactions by users with both an e-wallet and card stood at almost 67,000 yen in the 2025 fiscal year—nearly triple the users of the app alone—with bank users’ monthly average rising to 136,000 yen. And PayPay’s code payments and cards now account for over 10% of digital payments in Japan, behind the 17% market share of rival Rakuten’s credit card business, Pujance Chan, an equity analyst at Morningstar, estimates.

Chan reckons there is still room for PayPay users to grow, especially if accounts are allowed to merge with those of SoftBank-backed messaging app Line, which boasts over 100 million monthly active users in Japan. Yet Line’s history of large-scale data breaches has raised regulatory hurdles for any such linkup. In India, supervisory concerns have hurt the broader financial ambitions of Paytm of One97 Communications PAYT.NS.

Beyond compliance risk, there is the fact that PayPay’s financial services segment, made up of its banking and securities units, accounted for only 16.3% of consolidated operating profit in the final nine months of 2025. Explaining how the firm can swiftly boost that share without tripping regulatory wires would make a stronger case for its super app ambitions.

Follow Hudson Lockett on Bluesky and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

PayPay, the SoftBank Group-backed Japanese payments app, is set to receive more than $200 million from a group of cornerstone investors, including Qatar Holdings, Visa and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as part of its U.S. initial public offering, Reuters reported on February 28, citing two unnamed sources.

PayPay filed paperwork for its IPO on February 12. Bloomberg reported on the same day that the firm is seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion, with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son pushing for up to double that amount, according to unnamed sources.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on LOCKETT/ [email protected]))

Feb 10 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - IRDAI RENEWED IRDAI INSURANCE BROKING LICENSE OF PAYTM INSURANCE BROKING

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

** Digital payments platform Paytm PAYT.NS shares up 0.5% at 1,164.7 rupees

** Bernstein ("outperform", 1,600 rupees PT) notes India's surprise move to continue incentives for digital payments as positive for PAYT

** Finance minister revised FY26 allocation for incentives towards India's real-time digital payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), to 22 billion rupees, from 4.4 billion rupees

** Earlier, RBI chose not to extend its incentive scheme for digital payments

** Brokerage estimates PAYT could receive an incremental revenue of 800 million rupees in Q4 due to the raised allocation for FY26, which would partially offset the loss of RBI incentives

** 17 analysts rate PAYT "buy" on average, median PT 1,460 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock dropped 12.4% in January

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))

** Shares of Paytm PAYT.NS fall 2.5% to 1,139.20 rupees

** Citi ("buy", cuts PT to 1,375 rupees from 1,500 rupees) says withdrawal of regulatory incentives will weigh on near-term EBITDA

** Fintech beats Q3 profit expectations, on robust growth in financial, payments services segments

** Payments rev, which accounts for roughly 55% of total revenue, rose 19% in Q3; expenses down 2% y/y

** MD and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, named MD and CEO of its payments services unit as well

** PAYT rated "buy" by 17 analysts on avg; median PT 1,475 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** PAYT down 12% so far in Jan

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Jan 29 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• Q3 CONSOL NET PROFIT 2.25 BILLION RUPEES

• Q3 CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 21.94 BILLION RUPEES

• VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA ADDITIONALLY APPOINTED MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PPSL

• OTHER INCOME IS EXPECTED TO DECLINE FROM Q4 FY 2026 ONWARDS

• GOING FORWARD, MARKETING SERVICES GROWTH EXPECTED TO BE DRIVEN BY HIGHER MTUS

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

(([email protected];))

** Paytm parent One97 Communications PAYT.NS stock falls 7.3% to 1,168 rupees, set for their worst single-day decline since January 2025

** Drops to lowest level since early Oct 2025

** RBI not renewing payment infra development fund scheme incentive after December 2025 may be weighing on stock, traders say

** PAYTM generates about 2 billion rupees ($21.82 million) in annualised operating revenue through scheme, they add

** PAYTM Q2 revenue of 20.61 billion rupees

** PAYT, IPO-bound PhonePe PHOP.NS may have to raise soundbox rental prices to offset revenue loss - traders

** 19 analysts tracking PAYT rate it "buy" on average - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock down 13% this week, biggest weekly drop since Jan 2025

($1 = 91.6562 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Jaspreet Kalra in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Ujjaini Dutta

BENGALURU, Jan 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - PhonePe was an afterthought thrown into Walmart’s WMT.O purchase of a majority stake in Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart in 2018. Now the U.S. retailer led by Doug McMillon is listing the payments giant that boasts some 240 million monthly active customers. It's a business with enormous potential but PhonePe's prospectus published on Wednesday suggests a conservative valuation is merited.

The company boasts an impressive 46% share in transactions passing through India's homegrown bank-to-bank mobile payments system, where its closest competitor is an application owned by Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O. Yet PhonePe's slowing growth and widening losses come as a surprise ahead of its Mumbai initial public offering.

PhonePe's topline will grow 10% to 78.4 billion rupees ($856 million) in the year to the end of March 2026, based on annualising results for the first half of the financial year. That's a sharp slowdown from the 40% growth in the previous full year. On the same basis, net losses are set to grow 67% to 28.9 billion rupees. The company is spending on everything from marketing costs to IT infrastructure.

To profit, PhonePe needs to gradually convert its network of users and merchants into customers of financial products, from loans to insurance and mutual funds. It's a promise that PhonePe is starting to realise. Lending and insurance distribution services generated 11.6% of its revenue from operations in six months to the end of September, up from less than 1% in 2023. But there's still a long slog ahead.

After trimming some of its 72% stake, Walmart will retain a controlling stake in the business. Having a deep pocketed shareholder will comfort incoming owners. Yet a $15 billion valuation, as previously mooted by local media, looks punchy. That would imply a multiple of 18 times PhonePe's sales in the current financial year, compared to 8 times for One 97 Communications PAYT.NS , owner of rival Paytm, which is profitable.

PhonePe's dominance is also a risk. A proposed 30% cap on transaction volumes on India's bank-to-bank small payments system has only been deferred until December and would hurt the company's ability to onboard new users. Paytm achieved a dizzying multiple in its 2021 debut but its shares are yet to recover to their IPO price. After that bruising episode, frothy valuations for payments companies ought to be handled with caution.

Follow Ujjaini Dutta on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Walmart, Microsoft and Tiger Global will sell shares in PhonePe's initial public offering in Mumbai, according to a prospectus for the Indian payments company dated January 21.

The transaction could raise up to 120 billion rupees ($1.31 billion), Reuters reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the transaction.

According to the filing, the IPO will be comprised entirely of existing shares. Walmart currently owns 71.8% of PhonePe. Walmart will remain the controlling shareholder after the offering.

There are eight bookrunners on the deal; Axis Capital, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, JM Financial, JPMorgan, Kotak and Morgan Stanley.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/[email protected]))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India's financial technology startups are lining up for credit. Among them is Walmart-backed WMT.N payments champion PhonePe, which on Wednesday said it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in Mumbai. A mooted $15 billion valuationlooks punchy, but its shot at grabbing the ultimate fintech prize in the country is half decent.

The U.S. retailer owns about 84% of the startup, which it acquired as part of its 2018 acquisition of e-commerce platform Flipkart. PhonePe's target valuation would imply a multiple of 13 times sales for the year to end March 2026, assuming its topline grows at the same 40% pace as it did in the previous year. That compares to 9 times Paytm-owner One97 Communications PAYT.NS commands among investors.

PhonePe is superior in multiple ways. Though Paytm swung to profit in the June quarter, PhonePe's losses are narrowing and it has faced none of the regulatory heat that has mired its rival. The Walmart unit also enjoys a 46% share in transactions passing through India's homegrown bank-to-bank mobile payments system, where its closest competitor is an application owned by Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google.

Yet simple payment transactions earn no fees in India. To profit, PhonePe needs to gradually convert its 200 million monthly active users and 40 million-strong merchant network into customers of financial products, from loans to insurance and mutual funds.

It's a promise that Paytm is starting to realise. Its revenue from financial services distribution doubled during the year to end June and accounted for 29% of its quarterly topline. PhonePe, by virtue of its bigger share of payments, ought to have a larger database spanning utility bill payments to restaurant outings that it can leverage to decide who is creditworthy.

The upstart will probably churn out a different, slightly lower, class of customer to those chased by India's traditional lenders, including HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS. They already have strong digital sourcing engines, however, so there will be some overlap in who they target. And the $72 billion Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS has a formidable grip on the consumer loan market too that's proven hard to break.

Yet if India is to produce anything like a real fintech winner, PhonePe is more than likely to be it.

Follow Shritama Bose on Linkedin and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Walmart-backed Indian fintech firm PhonePe on September 24 said it has confidentially filed for a Mumbai initial public offering.

The company plans to raise around 120 billion rupees ($1.35 billion) through a sale of existing shares, Moneycontrol reported on the same day, citing unnamed industry sources. Walmart, Tiger Global and Microsoft could sell a combined 10% stake in the IPO, the report added.

PhonePe narrowed losses during the year ended March 31 to 17.3 billion rupees ($194.7 million) from 19.96 billion rupees ($225 million) in the previous 12-month period, the company said in a regulatory filing on September 22.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

** Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank SURO.BO up 3.3% to 131.5 rupees

** Bank partners with Paytm PAYT.NS to launch Paytm post paid as credit line on UPI, which will offer up to 30 days of interest-free credit

** Stock set to rise most in a session in over a month

** More than 18,500 shares traded, 2.2x its 30-day moving avg

** YTD, SURO down ~6%

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 8697274436;))

** Shares of Paytm PAYT.NS jump 11% this week, set for the best weekly gain since November

** Stock gains 20% in the last two weeks

** Co's unit received RBI's approval last week to operate as a payment aggregator, lifting a merchant onboarding ban in place since November 2022

** 16 analysts covering PAYT have a "buy" rating on average; median PT is 1,160 rupees , data compiled by LSEG

** Stock up 29% YTD

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar)

(([email protected]))

By Nishit Navin

BENGALURU, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Indian fintech firm PayNearby plans to launch an initial public offering in the next financial year to fund expansion, its chief executive said on Thursday, making it the latest to target a red-hot market that raised record sums in 2024.

India was the world's second-biggest IPO market after the United States in the first half of 2025, accounting for 12% of total proceeds globally, LSEG data shows.

"We have met three merchant bankers and are in the process of identifying the one to go ahead with for the IPO. Then we will begin the process of filing the draft red herring prospectus," CEO and Managing Director Anand Kumar Bajaj said in an interview.

Indian fintech giants such as Paytm PAYT.NS, PhonePe and BharatPe dominate the market with payments and lending, but PayNearby takes a different route by building a vast network of neighborhood retailers to deliver digital services.

The company provides financial services to retail stores, thereby enabling them to offer cash withdrawal, remittance, bill payment and other services to their local communities and expects revenue to grow about 10% in the current fiscal year.

It reported gross revenue of about 3 billion rupees ($34.9 million) and profit of 120 million rupees in the year ended March 2025.

PayNearby, which has partnered with 1.2 million retailers, plans to add 500,000 more to that network over the next two years, Bajaj said. It also aims to hire around 550 to 600 employees by the end of the current fiscal year.

($1 = 87.2490 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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** India's Paytm PAYT.NS jumps 5.4% to 1,180 rupees, its highest level since early January 2022

** Fintech firm says Reserve Bank of India has granted authorisation to unit Paytm Payments Services to operate as an online payment aggregator

** Co has been restricted from on-boarding new online merchants in its payment gateway business since November 2022

** Brokerage Citi says the licence win is a positive for sentiments as it lifts a major regulatory restriction on co's business

** Co can now leverage its relative scale and product development capabilities to be more competitive vs earlier in the segment, it adds

** Avg rating of 16 analysts on PAYT is "buy"; median PT is 1,160 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock has gained ~10% so far in 2025

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru)

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Aug 12 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM - RESERVE BANK OF INDIA GRANTED ‘IN-PRINCIPLE’ AUTHORISATION TO Paytm Payments Services

• PAYTM - AUTHORISATION TO PPSL TO OPERATE AS AN ONLINE PAYMENT AGGREGATOR

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - Ant Group Co Ltd 688688.SS:

• ANT GROUP SELLS 37.3 MILLION SHARES IN INDIA'S PAYTM VIA BULK DEAL - EXCHANGE DATA

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: 688688.SS

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** India's Paytm PAYT.NS jumps as much as 2.9% in early trade before paring gains; last up 0.1%

** Fintech firm posts first quarterly profit since September 2024, driven by robust growth in lending business and tight cost controls, and expects further earnings boost

** Improving core business resulted in strong earnings, says Jefferies; upgrades stock to "buy" from "hold"

** Adds, PAYT has done well to rebound from regulatory and business issues in 2024 by managing costs and rebuilding business momentum

** Emkay Global ("buy," PT: 1,350 rupees) says PAYT is executing well on acquiring merchants, leveraging its "superior" soundbox products and distributing loans

** Co's disbursement growth expected to remain healthy given improving tailwinds in unsecured lending - Motilal Oswal ("neutral," PT: 1,025 rupees)

** Stock up 3.3% YTD

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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July 22 (Reuters) -

PAYTM EXEC: SEE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN EBITDA MARGIN BETWEEN NOW AND END OF YEAR

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

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July 17 (Reuters) - One 97 Communications Ltd PAYT.NS:

• PAYTM CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATES SUBSIDIARY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Source text: ID:nBSE1nHWjm

Further company coverage: PAYT.NS

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