COVID WAVE TO HIT CREDIT CARD SPENDS IN NEAR TERM

THE PROPOSED INITIAL PUBLIC OFFER WOULD BE THE LARGEST SUCH OFFERING IN INDIA

NEW DELHI: Digital payments giant Paytm is planning to come out with an initial public offer worth $3 billion later this year, according to sources.

The proposed Initial Public Offer (IPO), if successful, would be the largest such offer. Coal India's Rs 15,200 crore-IPO in 2010 is the country's largest one till date.

The SoftBank and Alibaba-backed company is looking at raising about $3 billion (over Rs 21,700 crore) at a valuation of well over $25 billion, the sources privy to the development said. Its major's board is expected to meet on Friday to discuss IPO plan, they added.

Paytm declined to comment on the matter. A number of young businesses in the country, including Policybazaar, Nykaa, Delhivery and MobiKwik, are also reportedly firming up plans to launch their IPOs.

In April, food delivery platform Zomato filed preliminary papers for an IPO with capital market regulator Sebi to raise Rs 8,250 crore.

Paytm -- which is locked in an intense competition with Google Pay, Walmartowned PhonePe and others in the digital payments space in India -- had raised $1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) in November 2019 from US-based asset management firm T Rowe Price and existing investors, including SoftBank and Alibaba. At that time, the company was valued at around $16 billion.

The Noida-based firm, which had an astonishing rise after demonetisation in 2016, is betting on financial services, commerce and payments as three key focus areas.

Fintech companies have continued to witness a strong growth in the Indian market over the past few years, especially amid the pandemic, as people turned to digital platforms.

Paytm is among the leading platforms for Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Apart from payments, it has expanded into other financial services.

Owing to increased financial discipline, a rarity in the hyper-competitive payments space, Paytm is on track to break-even in 12-18 months and continues being the largest payments and financial technology ecosystem in India, according to Bernstein Research