Alibaba Group in talks to buy stake in India's Paytm: sources

[MUMBAI] Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is in advanced talks to invest in Indian online payment platform and e-commerce firm Paytm, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Alibaba's financial arm Ant Financial, which runs the Alipay online payment platform, is already an investor in Paytm's parent, having agreed in February to buy a 25 per cent stake.

One source with direct knowledge of the matter said the new deal would see Alibaba directly invest around US$600 million for a share in Paytm that could take the Chinese group's total holding to around 40 per cent of the Indian payments firm.

The fresh investment would value Paytm at around US$4 billion.

The sources declined to be named as negotiations are not public.

A spokesperson for Alibaba declined to comment on the development. A spokeswoman for Paytm also declined to comment, but said the group regularly engaged with investors on "various funding opportunities".

REUTERS