In the wake of news emerging that Antfin aimed to divest a portion of its Paytm stake, Alibaba Group, the Chinese tech behemoth, sold a 4% share in the fintech company for INR 2,103 Cr through bulk transactions yesterday.

According to BSE data, Antfin Netherlands Holding BV executed two block deals in which it sold over 2.55 crore shares.  The Chinese tech giant sold 1.27 crore shares at INR 826.04 each in the first tranche and then sold another 1.27 crore shares at INR 823.30 apiece.

The average share price of INR 824.67 indicates a 3.72% discount from the stock’s last closing price of INR 856.55 on the previous day.

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Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte acquired 37.25 lakh shares, totaling INR 307.42 crore at an individual price of INR 823.10, out of the total shares that inundated the market.

It has been reported that Antfin, a subsidiary of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, is considering selling a stake of up to 4% in Paytm, valued at INR 2,200 crore, via block deals.

As per a report from Moneycontrol, which referenced sources with insider knowledge of the situation, Antfin is anticipated to sell its shares in the leading fintech company at a minimum price of INR 809.75 per share.

The floor price is set at a level that reflects a 6% reduction from the closing price of Paytm shares today.

As per the report, the proposed block trade will be managed by multinational brokerage firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

According to today’s BSE data, a total of 2.1 lakh (2,10,081) Paytm shares were traded, out of which 51,869 shares were marked for delivery.

In 2023, media reported that on August 25, the Chinese internet giant Ant Group sold a 3.6% stake in Paytm for INR 2,037 Cr via open market transactions.

As per bulk and block deal data from the BSE, Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. sold 2.27 crore shares of One97 Communications, which is the parent company of Paytm, at a price of INR 895.2 per share.  The Ant Group subsidiary sold the shares in 14 separate tranches.

Among the buyers of the offloaded Paytm shares were Societe Generale, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius Private Ltd, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte, Motilal Oswal Fund, and Nippon India Mutual Fund.

This development coincides with Paytm ramping up its efforts to become profitable.  At present, it is concentrating on its primary business areas: payments, lending, and merchant services.

In the March quarter of Q4 FY2025, the fintech giant disclosed a consolidated net loss of INR 544.6 Cr, reflecting a 1% decrease from the INR 550.5 Cr loss experienced in the same quarter last year.  The company’s loss increased sequentially by 118%, reaching INR 208.5 Cr.

For the quarter being analyzed, its operating revenue decreased by 19% year-on-year to INR 1,911.5 crore from INR 2,267.1 crore in Q4 FY24.  In sequence, this represented a 5% rise from the operating revenue of INR 1,827.8 Cr.

In April, Sharma voluntarily relinquished 2.1 Cr unvested employee stock options (ESOPs), which had been scrutinized by the markets regulator SEBI.  “Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma… has notified the company through a letter dated April 16, 2025, that he has voluntarily relinquished all 2,10,00,000 (Two Crore Ten Lakhs) ESOPs granted to him under the One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2019, effective immediately,” One 97 Communications stated in an exchange filing at the time of the development. Subsequently, the stock options were revoked and placed back into the ESOP pool.

On the BSE, Paytm shares closed today’s trading session at INR 866.35, marking an increase of 4.06%.