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Atransaction could be clinched in the coming weeks valuing Paytm, which is engaged in mobile payments and online financial services, at over $10 billion and giving it more heft. The firm already counts China’s Alibaba Group Holdings and Japan’s Soft-Bank as major backers. “Berkshire is in talks to pick up a 3-4% stake in the company and it is being done through a primary subscription of shares,” said one of those mentioned above.
The transaction was discussed at the board meeting of Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted Paytm held a few weeks ago. But a deal, including the size of the investment, has not been finalised yet. “Berkshire Hathaway is impressed by the scale that Paytm has been able to build in a short period of time. They realise that technology companies go through a cycle of losses before they start generating cash,” said the second source.
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Todd Combs, one of Berkshire’s key fund managers, who is also seen as a potential chief investment officer at the firm, is leading the transaction, according to one of the sources. This would also be the first investment by Buffett, who until a few years ago stayed away from even listed technology companies, in a privately held company that still incurs heavy losses, underlining the potential he sees in India’s technology market.
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There was no response to queries emailed to Berkshire Hathaway, including CFO Marc Hamburg, and to Paytm. The Noida-based company said last month that it conducts 5 billion transactions worth $50 billion in gross transaction value (GTV) on an annualised basis based on its performance in June. It saw total income increase by 38% to Rs 828 crore with losses of Rs 899.6 crore in the year ended March 2017, according to Registrar of Companies (RoC) filings.
Paytm was valued at around $7 billion last year when it raised $1 billion from Softbank Vision Fund and around $10 billion earlier this year during a secondary share sale by employees of the company. If the transaction goes through, it will give Paytm more firepower to strengthen its market leadership against Flipkart-owned Phonepe and Google’s Tez besides potential competition from Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Reliance Jio.
The development comes as Paytm has also been diversifying its business across financial services and offline payments after acquiring customers through services such as mobile recharges, rail and air bookings, movie ticketing and utility bill payments. Through One97 Communications, the company owns 49% in Paytm Payments Bank with the remaining stake held by Sharma in his personal capacity as per regulations. The Reserve Bank of India recently asked the payments bank to stop adding new customers due to issues with its e-KYC process, as reported earlier. KYC stands for know your customer.
But this has not hindered the aggressive expansion plans of its broader payments business. Paytm is building a hyperlocal online-to-offline business under its New Retail strategy. This will increase footfalls for offline stores by offering discounts on payments through Paytm’s app using QR codes. Merchants are not being charged a commission by Paytm but have to pay a fee for logistics and marketing costs. Another thrust area for the company is Paytm Money, where customers can start investing their savings in products like mutual funds. The company has set a target of 20 million customers in the next three years. It has also set up subsidiaries for life and general insurance.
Berkshire Hathway had tried its hand in India in 2011, when it entered the market as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General. It exited two years later owing to lack of profitability and laws that constrained ownership by foreign companies. Several Berkshire portfolio companies have operations in India but it has not made any direct investments. After avoiding technology stocks for decades, Buffett said last year that not investing in companies like Google-owner Alphabet and Amazon had been a mistake. Since 2016, Berkshire has also been a big buyer of Apple, where its stake is now worth over $50 billion, making it the firm’s largest holding.
Buffett confirmed earlier this year that his firm had explored an investment in ride-hailing giant Uber, indicating that the firm is going after opportunities in the private technology market.
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沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)为一片Paytm会谈
事务可以在未来几周内敲定重视Paytm,从事移动支付和网上金融服务,超过100亿美元,给它更多的分量
Atransaction可能在未来几周达成评估Paytm,从事移动支付和网上金融服务,超过100亿美元,给它更多的分量。该公司已将中国持有的阿里巴巴集团和日本的Soft-Bank主要支持者。“伯克希尔哈撒韦公司在谈判接3 - 4%的股份公司,它是通过一个主认购的股份,”其中一个上面提到的说。
事务的董事会会议上讨论了Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted Paytm几周前举行。但达成协议,包括投资的大小,尚未敲定。“伯克希尔哈撒韦公司是印象深刻的规模,Paytm已经能够建立在一个短的时间。他们意识到,科技公司经过一个周期的损失之前,他们开始产生现金,”第二个说。
托德•康姆斯,伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的一个关键的基金经理,他也被视为一个潜在的公司首席投资官,领导事务,根据来源之一。这也将是第一个巴菲特的投资,直到几年前远离甚至上市的科技公司,在一个私人控股公司带来重大损失,强调他认为在印度的技术市场的潜力。
更多的火力
伯克希尔哈撒韦公司没有回应查询邮件,包括首席财务官马克•汉堡和Paytm。Noida-based公司上月表示,它进行50亿次交易总值500亿美元的交易价值(制造)按年率计算6月份根据其性能。它总收入增加了38%,达到828卢比的损失899.6卢比今年截至2017年3月,根据注册的公司(RoC)文件。
Paytm价值约70亿美元从视觉软银去年筹集了10亿美元基金和大约100亿美元在今年早些时候的二次售股公司的员工。如果交易能顺利,它将给Paytm更多火力加强市场领导对Flipkart-owned Phonepe和谷歌特斯除了潜在的竞争从Facebook-owned WhatsApp Jio和依赖。
发展之际,Paytm也被其业务多元化金融服务和线下支付收购后客户通过手机充电等服务,铁路和航空预订、电影票务和帐单支付。通过One97通讯公司拥有49% Paytm支付银行剩余股份由Sharma按规定他的个人能力。印度央行(Reserve Bank of India)最近要求支付银行停止添加新客户由于其e-KYC过程问题,早些时候报道。KYC代表了解你的客户。
但这并没有阻碍的激进的扩张计划更广泛的支付业务。Paytm建立地方性online-to-offline业务在其新的零售策略。这将增加脚步声离线商店提供的折扣支付通过Paytm使用QR码的应用。商人不被Paytm收取手续费但必须缴纳一定的费用,物流和营销成本。该公司的另一个推力区域是Paytm钱,客户可以开始他们的储蓄投资于共同基金等产品。2000万年公司已经设定了一个目标客户在未来三年。它还为人寿保险和一般保险设立子公司。
Berkshire Hathway试过它的手在印度在2011年,当它进入市场的代理公司巴贾杰安联将军。它退出了两年后由于缺乏盈利能力和限制外国企业所有权的法律。在印度几个伯克希尔哈撒韦投资公司操作的,但它并没有做出任何直接投资。避免科技股几十年之后,巴菲特去年表示,没有投资Google-owner字母和亚马逊这样的公司是一个错误。自2016年以来,伯克希尔哈撒韦公司也一直是苹果的大买家,现在价值超过500亿美元的股份,使其成为公司最大的控股。
巴菲特今年早些时候证实,他的公司在ride-hailing探索投资巨大的乳房,这表明该公司是私人技术市场的机会。
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