Swiss Re to buy 23% in Paytm arm for Rs 920 cr

New Delhi, October 27

Paytm on Wednesday said Switzerland-based reinsurance major Swiss Re will buy a 23% stake in Paytm Insuretech for about Rs 920 crore.

Paytm’s insurance unit, Paytm Insuretech (PIT), plans to leverage Paytm’s customer base and merchant ecosystem to develop innovative insurance products.

IPO size increased to Rs18,300 cr

• Paytm will increase its IPO size to Rs18,300 crore with company’s biggest shareholder Alibaba group firm Ant Financial and existing investors, including Softbank, deciding to dilute more stake in the company
• The company had plans to raise a total of Rs16,600 crore by issuing fresh equity worth Rs8,300 crore and another Rs8,300 crore through an offer-for-sale
• With existing shareholders deciding to dilute more equity, the offer-for-sale will go up by Rs1,700 crore to Rs10,000 crore

Through an investment in PIT, Swiss Re and Paytm will work towards closing the insurance protection gap in the market.

“Swiss Re will invest (by way of equity shares and compulsorily convertible preference shares) approximately Rs 9,200 million (Rs 3,973 million upfront, and the remaining in tranches, subject to fulfilment of certain milestones) in PIT for an aggregate stake of 23% on a fully diluted basis,” Paytm said.

The investment in PIT follows the acquisition of Raheja QBE by Paytm Insuretech.

“We look forward to gaining from Swiss Re’s global insurance capabilities and building innovative products to tap into the Indian market,” Paytm MD and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said. — PTI