Alibaba exits India, offloads Paytm stake

The Chinese company Alibaba, having already offloaded its stakes in Zomato and BigBasket earlier, sold 21,431,822 shares of Paytm’s parent One97 Communications in a bulk deal on Friday, translating to about a 3.4% equity stake. Shares of One 97 tanked 8.75% on the BSE and 7.82% on the NSE. The company saw a Rs 3,520 crore wipe-out in market capitalisation, according to data. Alibaba had, in January, already pared 3.1% of its 6.26% holding in Paytm.

Paytm stock has gained 3.77% in the last three months. It, however continues to trade below its IPO price of Rs 2,150. Shares had rallied more than 18% this week, following Paytm’s Q3 results announcement last week. The company recorded a 42% y-o-y rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,042 crore, and an Ebitda before ESOPs of Rs 31 crore. Net loss reduced by 50% y-o-y to Rs 392 crore.

The company’s stock is still above the significant 200DMA level of 630 and further below has the important 50EMA level of 565, which shall be the crucial support zone.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said this was made possible because of the focused execution by the team. “The team was asked to focus on growth with quality revenues that contribute to the bottom line. We have achieved this milestone without losing sight of growth opportunities and keeping all compliances as well as risk factors under a strict watch.”