Paytm, the mobile payments company, is now a fully Indian-owned enterprise following the complete exit of its last major Chinese shareholder.
Nearly a decade ago, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma remarked, “We are as Indian as Maruti”, while responding to queries about the company’s ownership structure at that time.
This has now become a reality, as Paytm is now 100% Indian-owned after Jack Ma’s Ant Financial exited One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, by selling its entire 5.84 per cent stake for around Rs 3,803 crore.
This transformation became official with the recent exit of Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV, which sold its residual 5.84 per cent stake in Paytm for about Rs 3,800 crore through a block deal.
With this, Chinese ownership in the company has been reduced to zero, marking a significant shift in its shareholding pattern.
Following Antfin’s exit, Paytm’s pre-IPO cap table has seen a near-complete churn. Major early backers, including Alibaba, SoftBank, and Berkshire Hathaway, have all exited fully over the past two years. Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners) now stands as the only significant pre-IPO investor still holding a stake of 15.4% as of June 2025.
The development comes on the heels of a strong performance in Q1 FY26, when Paytm posted its first-ever fully profitable quarter with a net of Rs 123 crore. Revenue rose 28% year-on-year to Rs 1,918 crore, and contribution profit grew 52% to Rs 1,151 crore.
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In 2016, Vijay Shekhar Sharma reaffirmed Paytm’s deep-rooted commitment to India’s growth story, highlighting the company’s Indian ethos and its alignment with national priorities. At a time when the startup ecosystem was witnessing robust global interest and strategic investments, Sharma underscored Paytm’s steadfast adherence to local regulations, its India-first approach to innovation, and its unwavering focus on empowering Indian consumers and merchants.
