Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is among Paytm’s backers.
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Shares in Paytm dropped 27% Thursday in the group’s first day as a publicly traded company, after the fintech startup caught the attention of investors around the world in India’s largest-ever initial public offering.
Paytm (PAYTM.India) counts SoftBank (SFTBY), Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A and BRK.B), and Alibaba (BABA) among its backers, and has positioned itself as India’s answer to companies like China’s Ant Group. Its interests cover a range of finance and technology businesses but its primary focus is mobile payments.
Pricing its IPO at 2,150 Indian rupees, Paytm raised $2.5 billion in the largest float in Indian history. But the stock tumbled in its Mumbai trading debut, closing more than 27% lower at INR 1,560. Indian stocks have been on a tear over the past year, with the benchmark NIFTY 50 index up more than 39% from November 2020, compared with a 31% rise in the S&P 500.
A wave of IPOs has swept India this year with bullish sentiment focusing on high-growth technology companies. But as Barron’s warned last month—“India’s tech IPOs look too pricey.”
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