Boardroom Changes at Paytm: President, CHRO, CBO and others quit ahead of IPO DRHP filing

IPO-bound Paytm has undergone a few boardroom changes ahead of its DRHP filing today. Amit Nayyar, Paytm President, Rohit Thakur, Chief HR Officer, Amit Veer, Chief Business Officer and SVP, User Growth, and Jaskaran Singh Kapany, head of marketing of Paytm and a few others have resigned from their posts. Further, the fintech startup has maintained that they have no Chinese National on the board ahead of Diwali-IPO.

Without any changes in shareholding, many board members stepped down. Some major names that have stepped down include Alipay representative Jing Xiandong, Ant Financial’s Guoming Cheng, and Alibaba representatives Michael Yuen Jen Yao (US citizen) and Ting Hong Kenny Ho. Further, Saama Capital’s Ashit Ranjit Lilani, Ant Group representative Douglas Feagin and SoftBank representative Vikas Agnihotri have joined its Board.

Paytm Shareholding

At present, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and its payments arm Ant Financial hold almost 37% stake in the payments major. Softbank through its Softbank Vision Fund and Elevation Capital hold almost 20% stake each in the entity, respectively. Elevation Capital was formerly called SAIF Partners. Further, founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s stake stands at 14.67% in the company.

Paytm eyes INR 22,000 Crores IPO near Diwali-2021

Fintech Decacorn Paytm is aiming to raise $3 Billion (≈INR 22000 crores) in IPO. Initial reports quoted an inside official who states that this could be the biggest IPO in India following Coal India IPO from 2010. The startup plans to list in India around November, perhaps during Diwali. With this IPO, the company is targeting a valuation of around $25 billion to $30 billion.

If the company aims for Diwali IPO, it could file for listing in July. Some reports suggest that the startup will have its EGM today and thereafter, it will file a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI. Paytm could raise a mix of new and existing shares to meet regulatory obligations in India.