By Dave Sebastian


A unit of SoftBank Group Corp. is offloading a portion of its stake in Indian mobile-payments giant Paytm for $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter, the investment company's latest share sale as it rides out a downturn.

Shares of One97 Communications Ltd., as Paytm is formally called, were last down 8.8% at 548.45 Indian rupees ($6.72). Its stock has fallen more than 70% from its initial public offering price in November 2021, when Paytm raised more than $2 billion.

The transaction amounts to a roughly 4.5% stake, according to a term sheet viewed Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. The SoftBank unit recently held a 17.45% stake in Paytm, according to FactSet.

The Japanese company, through SVF India Holdings (Cayman) Ltd., is selling 29 million shares in a block trade. It has priced the shares at the bottom of the range at INR555 a share ($6.80), according to people familiar with the matter. The high end of the range was INR601.45 a share, according to the term sheet.

The deal was subscribed more than two times, with about 70% of the demand coming from hedge funds and roughly 30% from long-only investors, some of the people said.

A SoftBank representative said the company isn't commenting on the trade. Paytm didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The IPO's one-year lockup period expired this week, allowing shareholders like SoftBank to monetize their stakes. SoftBank's block trade is expected to occur Thursday, with the settlement expected next Monday, the term sheet shows.

BofA Securities is the sole bookrunner for the transaction.


Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-17-22 0310ET