SoftBank, Alibaba to invest $445 mln in India's Paytm E-Commerce

SoftBank Group is investing 400 million US dollars in India’s Paytm E-Commerce in a funding round that will value the online retailer at roughly 1.9 billion US dollars, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.

Alibaba, an existing investor in Paytm E-Commerce, is also putting in 45 million US dollars in the round, the filing showed.

SoftBank is among major investors in India’s fast-growing e-commerce sector and already owns a stake in Paytm’s parent.

“We believe Paytm Mall’s offline-to-online operating model, combined with the strength of the Paytm ecosystem, is uniquely positioned to enable India’s 15 million offline retail shops to participate in India’s e-commerce boom,” SoftBank said in a statement on Monday.

A filing with India’s Registrar of Companies showed SoftBank units will get a 21.1-percent stake in Paytm E-Commerce after the investment which would come in four tranches.

Alibaba.Com Singapore E-Commerce, which currently owns 36.3 percent of the Indian e-retailer, will remain the single-largest shareholder of Paytm E-Commerce but with a relatively smaller stake of just over 30 percent after its latest investment is completed.

Paytm E-Commerce competes with Amazon.com Inc’s Indian unit and home-grown Flipkart. A group company of Paytm’s parent One97 Communications Ltd runs India’s biggest digital wallet services and also has a stake in a payments bank.

SoftBank's Vision Fund took roughly a share of Flipkart last year for 2.5 billion US dollars.

(CGTN)