In a high-volume secondary market transaction on the Indian bourses, existing institutional backers of One97 Communications (the parent entity of digital payments major Paytm) offloaded a 1.34% equity stake worth ₹963.6 crore (approx. ₹964 crore) via coordinated bulk and block deals.
The transaction, executed on Friday, May 22, 2026, marks another phased partial liquidation by early-stage institutional venture firms looking to lock in returns following a strong multi-month recovery in Paytm’s baseline stock price.
1. Slicing Open the Sellers: The Elevation Capital Pipeline
The massive block sale was orchestrated entirely by venture capital firm Elevation Capital (historically known as SAIF Partners) and its interlocked offshore investment vehicles.
According to BSE transaction disclosures, a total of 85.98 lakh (8.6 million) shares changed hands at a fixed floor price of ₹1,120.65 per share, reflecting a tight 3% discount to the stock’s previous market close.
- SAIF III Mauritius Company Limited acted as the primary anchor for the exit, liquidating 56.22 lakh shares.
- SAIF Partners India IV Limited pared its position by offloading 23.86 lakh shares.
- Elevation Capital V Limited cleared out the remaining 5.89 lakh shares in the allocation.
Despite executing this $100 million partial exit, Elevation Capital remains one of Paytm’s largest institutional legacy stakeholders, holding roughly 12.18% of the company’s outstanding equity across its combined portfolios. The move aligns with a broader structural pivot where Paytm has actively minimized its historical Chinese backing—specifically encouraging Alibaba affiliate AntFin to pare stakes—to transition into an Indian-owned and controlled entity with domestic investor density touching 50%.
2. Slicing Open the Buyers: Global Hyperscalers and Domestic Funds
Unlike historical tech blocks that occasionally struggle to find immediate institutional backstops, the ₹964 crore supply was aggressively absorbed by a diversified mix of global banking assets and domestic mutual funds:
| Category of Institutional Buyer | Prominent Purchasing Entities | Cumulative Shares Acquired |
| Global Investment Banks | Societe Generale (Largest Single Buyer), Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Citigroup Global Markets. | ~35 Lakh Shares |
| International Hedge Funds | Ghisallo Master Fund LP, Viridian Asia Opportunities Master Fund, Marshall Wace, Copthall Mauritius. | ~28 Lakh Shares |
| Indian Mutual Funds | Nippon India Mutual Fund, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, Sundaram Mutual Fund. | ~22 Lakh Shares |
3. Structural Turnaround and Operational Context
The smooth institutional absorption of the block deal highlights a sharp rebound in public market confidence surrounding Paytm’s core operating fundamentals.
The firm recently published its Q4 FY26 earnings results, posting an 18.4% year-on-year expansion in operating revenue to ₹2,264 crore, alongside a solid quarterly net profit of ₹183 crore. On a full-year basis, Paytm successfully logged a milestone net profit of ₹556 crore for FY26—marking its first-ever full fiscal year of absolute profitability since its rocky 2021 stock market debut.
The Banking License Finality: The block deal was executed immediately after a critical regulatory milestone. On April 24, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officially revoked the banking license of the defunct Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act. While the termination represents the absolute end of Paytm’s internal banking infrastructure, equity markets have largely priced in the hit, treating the clear-cut separation of the core payments app from the non-compliant banking unit as a long-term compliance positive.