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Paytm Said to Consider $270 Million Share Sale in Pre-IPO Round

The digital payments services provider plans to issue 83 billion rupees worth of new shares, including those in the pre-IPO round.

Paytm Said to Consider $270 Million Share Sale in Pre-IPO Round
An advertising balloon for PayTM online payment advertisment, operated by One97 Communications Ltd., is displayed at a a general store in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)  

Paytm is considering raising about 20 billion rupees ($268 million) in a funding round before its initial public offering as the startup backed by Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. enters the final leg of preparation for its listing this year, people familiar with the matter said.

The digital payments services provider plans to issue 83 billion rupees worth of new shares, including those in the pre-IPO round, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Shareholders on Monday cleared an enabling resolution allowing the sale of as much as 120 billion rupees of new shares, two of the people said.

Existing shareholders, including SoftBank Group Corp. and Ant Group, would have the option to sell another 83 billion rupees worth of shares, the people familiar said.

The company, formally called One97 Communications Ltd., was last valued at $16 billion, according to unicorn tracker CB Insights. The startup has hired several banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for the IPO, Bloomberg News previously reported.

Deliberations are ongoing, and the details of the fundraising rounds could change, the people said. A representative for Paytm declined to comment.

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