Paytm gets SEBI approval for biggest Indian IPO in at least a decade

Mumbai: Paytm’s parent One97 Communications has received a nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its much-anticipated, Rs-16,600 crore initial public offering (IPO), sources told ET.

The official disclosure from the capital markets regulator is expected soon, sources said.

With Sebi’s approval, Paytm can now launch the IPO once it includes the observations the regulator may have made to its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The company is aiming to launch the initial share sale by November 4, coinciding with the festival of Diwali.

The Paytm IPO, the biggest in India’s public market history, will see it raise Rs 8,300 crore through primary share sale and Rs 8,300 crore in a secondary transaction via an offer for sale (OFS).

ET reported earlier this month that the Paytm IPO has garnered interest from the likes of Canada’s CPPIB, US-based asset manager Alkeon Capital as well as funds managed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. The new investors join a list of bidders that are in talks to invest in Paytm’s anchor investment as well as its IPO. The firm is unlikely to raise funds in a pre-IPO placement.

The fintech startup is likely to seek a valuation of $20-24 billion from the IPO. It was valued at around $16 billion in its last fundraising over two years ago. The development comes at a time when a slew of new-age Indian internet firms — Zomato, Freshworks, Nykaa, MobiKwik, PolicyBazaar and Pine Labs, among others — have either listed on the bourses and or have initiated the process to do so.

One97 Communications, which was founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma over two decades ago, counts the likes of Ant Financial, Alibaba, Elevation Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund, among its investors.