Investing.com — Shares of Paytm rose sharply during the market open on Wednesday, hitting an upper circuit amid speculation that Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, was looking to acquire a stake in the fintech company.
One 97 communications Ltd (NS:), which owns and operates Paytm, jumped 5% to Rs 359.45 in early trade.
But Paytm said in a filing that reports that Adani was looking to acquire a stake in the company were mere speculation, and that the company was not involved in any discussions on the matter.
The clarification comes after The Times of India reported earlier on Wednesday that Adani was in late-stage talks with Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Sharma about the group acquiring a stake in One 97 Communications.
Any stake in Paytm would enable Adani to push ahead in the hotly contested Indian fintech space, where it would compete with the likes of Alphabet's (NASDAQ:) Google Pay, Walmart's PhonePe and Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial.
The majority stake in Paytm will also be Adani's largest purchase after NDTV and Ambuja Cements. The group has several listed entities in the Indian markets, led by its flagship company Adani companies Ltd. (NS:).
The Times of India report stated that negotiations between Sharma and Adani have been ongoing for some time, and that they met in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to finalize the agreement.
Any stake Adani buys will offer a bargain, after a series of regulatory hurdles have seen Paytm shares lose nearly half their value so far in 2024.
The stock is approaching record lows after a largely weak performance since its listing in 2021.
This year, the company witnessed renewed turmoil after the Reserve Bank of India ordered the company to wind up its banking unit. Paytm wrote down the entire value of the unit and also posted a steep loss in the January-March quarter.