China-based Alibaba Group has sold a 3. 1 percent stake in India-based digital payments company Paytm worth USD 125 million through a block deal.

The deal has reportedly taken place on 12 January 2023 and shares of the company fell as much as 8. 8% to 528 rupees in afternoon trading, and was last down 5. 8%, as stated by Reuters.

Having held a 6. 26% stake in Paytm as of September 2022, Alibaba sold the stake at 536. 95 rupees apiece, with Morgan Stanley having acted as the advisor on the deal.

Paytm strategy and market value fluctuation Paytm, formally known as One97 Communications, listed in 2021 following a mega USD 2. 5 billion initial public offer (IPO). From that point onward, the stock had plunged approximately 75% from its IPO offer following investors’ questioning of the company’s monetisation plans amid worries regarding exceedingly high valuations of tech companies and fears of a global economic recession.

In November 2022, Japan-based SoftBank announced that they sold a 4. 5% stake in the digital payments’ firm worth USD 200 million, with the bank having been reported prior to this to have held 17. 5% stake in Paytm as of September of the same year.

Following reporting of strong preliminary figures for the third quarter, Paytm’s stock rose approximately 9% up to last close. Although the company had announced a share buyback in December 2022, it closed the year with a 60% loss. Alibaba recent developments Throughout 2022, Alibaba focused predominantly on geographical and product expansion in Europe.

In September, Alibaba-owned Lazada Group made public plans for European expansion, with the marketplace aiming to take on competitors of the likes of Amazon and Zalando across the continent’s ecommerce space. Company officials advised that their plans to do so were dependent on macroeconomic and market conditions. At the time of the announcement, Alibaba had disclosed an investment of USD 912.

5 million in the Southeast-Asian arm, which took the year’s capital influx to USD 1. 3 billion. At the end of July of the same year, Alibaba formed a collaboration with Germany-based martech company Kyto, looking to enable B2B companies in the region to set up their own digital shop.

Kyto’s software solution enabled users to control and manage their product information and profile data via a central login. Furthermore, B2B companies were given access to B2B sales places and could generate sales contacts or leads and find potential customers. As stated by Alibaba officials, the Kyoto partnership marked a step forward in providing German SMEs with more tools to take part in cross-border ecommerce through end-to-end ecommerce solutions and digital marketing services.

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