The Adani Group on Wednesday categorically denied a media report which claimed that the company is going to acquire a stake in digital payments company Paytm.
Adani group (Photo:ANI)
Parent company of Paytm, One97 Communications, and Adani Group called the report as ‘speculative’ that stated Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is considering acquiring a stake in Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications.
“We hereby clarify that the abovementioned news item is speculative and the company is not engaged in any discussions in this regard. We have always made and will continue to make disclosures in compliance with our obligations under the Sebi (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015,” One97 Communications said in a statement.
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A media report stated that Gautam Adani is planning to acquire a stake in One97 Communications, and that the founder chairman, and managing director of One97 Communications, Vijay Shekhar Sharma met with Adani at his office in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to finalise the contours of a deal.
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Adani Group has also clarified on the media report, and said “Categorically deny this baseless speculation, it is totally false and untrue”.
The report also said that Adani is engaging with West Asian funds to attract them as investors in One97 Communications, the company that pioneered mobile payments in India.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds around 19 per cent in One97 Communications, valued at Rs 4,218 crore. His direct stake in Paytm is 9 per cent, while an additional 10 per cent is held through Resilient Asset Management, a foreign entity.
Recently, reports have highlighted that in light of mounting losses, Paytm has initiated an employee cost reduction plan targeting to save Rs 400-500 crore.
This could potentially result in a reduction of 5,000-6,300 employees.
On January 31, the RBI imposed business restrictions on the Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) citing repeated violations of norms and non-compliance with multiple rules.
The banking regulator barred PPBL from accepting fresh deposits and doing credit transactions after February 29.
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