Paytm E-commerce value to rise at $1 billion after $200 million investment by Alibaba: Reports

Paytm E-Commerce Private limited value may soon reach to whopping $1 billion as the online retail unit is in talks to raise $200 million via an investment led by Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group.

According to a report in Livemint, this deal will confirm Paytm as Alibaba’s carrier for its e-commerce play in India.

Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications was valued at $5 billion when Mediatek invested $60 million in August-September 2016. Paytm makes up for 20% of One97’s total business.

The stake of Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial in Paytm will rise to 50 per cent after the next round of funding.

Paytm, which started out as a mobile payments and mobile recharge business ranks among the top three consumer Internet companies in the country.

One97 was valued at $5 billion the last time it raised about $60 million from new investor Mediatek in August-September 2016. E-commerce makes up about 20% of One97’s business.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had sold one per cent of his shares in One97 Communications to its shareholders for about Rs 325 crore.

The Online retail company is expected to launch a new mobile application and a separate website for the e-commerce business.

The upcoming website will be renamed as PaytmMall, inspired by Jack Ma’s T-mall in China. The existing Paytm app will continue to have a link to the commerce business.

One97 Communications’ existing shareholder SAIF Partners is likely to participate in the upcoming investment round as well, the people mentioned above said.