Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the Paytm founder, has sold one per cent of his shares in One97 Communications to its shareholders for about Rs 325 crore.
Paytm intends to use the amount for its proposed payments bank operations in which Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds 51 per cent stake.
The development was confirmed by a Paytm spokesperson who said that it has been done for the Paytm payments bank investment.
The spokesperson added that the shares have been bought by the existing shareholders. The details of the deal were, however, not disclosed.
At the end of March this year, Sharma held over 21 per cent stake in One97 Communications. The latest sale would bring down his holding to over 20 per cent.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of India had awarded 'in-principle' approval to Sharma, the founder of One97 Communications, to set up a payments bank.
Paytm payments bank is in the process of securing the final licence from RBI and will commence its operations after due approvals.
While Sharma holds a majority share in the new payments bank entity, the rest is being held by One97 Communications. Earlier this week, One97 Communications also restructured its business, merging Paytm's wallet business with payments bank operation.
China's Alibaba Group and its affiliate Ant Financial hold over 40 percent in One97 Communications. They had pumped in USD 680 million last year into the parent company of Paytm. However, the Chinese entity will not have a direct shareholding in the payments bank.
Other investors of One97 Communications include SAIF Partners, Intel Capital and SAP Ventures.
(With PTI inputs)
