Selling stake in Paytm to Adani is mere speculation, fintech company rejects claims

Paytm has rejected the claims made in a media report which claimed that Adani Group chief Gautam Adani was in talks with Paytm founder Vijay Shankar Sharma to buy a stake in Paytm. The country's well-known fintech company has termed this news as "fictional". The company has said that such reports are mere speculation. Paytm said in a notice to the stock markets that the company is not in any talks in this regard.

In the filing, the company said, "...we clarify that the above news is speculative and the company is not involved 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." Early on Wednesday, a newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is looking to buy a stake in Paytm's parent company One97 Communications.

According to the report, on Tuesday, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma met with Gautam Adani at Adani's Ahmedabad office to finalize the terms of the deal. Sharma owns about 19 percent of One97 Communications, or Rs 4,218 crore, according to the report. On Tuesday, the company's shares closed at Rs 342 apiece. Paytm's stock increased 5% to Rs 359.55 on Wednesday amid an upswing on the BSE. The news that Adani Group CEO Gautam Adani had acquired stock in the business caused a spike in the company's shares. The business has since rejected such a deal, though.