Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc has acquired a Rs 2,500 crore stake in India’s biggest digital-payments firm Paytm, its first investment in the country’s burgeoning startup ecosystem.
In a statement, One97 Communications ltd, which owns the Paytm brand, said US-based Berkshire Hathaway would have a member on the company board in lieu of the investment, but did not disclose the size of the deal or the stake sold.
However, people with direct knowledge of the development said Berkshire could have bought 3-4 per cent stake for about USD 300-350 million (about Rs 2,500 crore), valuing the Indian firm at over USD 10 billion. The investment has not been made by Buffett in his personal capacity.
Berkshire, which has traditionally invested in companies in sectors like consumer, energy and insurance, joins Japanese giant SoftBank that had last year bought a reported 20 per cent stake in Paytm for an estimated USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore).
Other high-profile investors in Paytm include Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group and Ant Financial.
