INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: E-commerce payment and digital wallet player Paytm has got a new investor, and this time an unlikely one -- Warren Buffett's
It is the first ever direct investment by Buffett's Berkshire in India.
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is upbeat
Berkshire's investment is an endorsement for Indian entrepreneurs, he told Chandra Srikant of ETNow on Tuesday
The success and partnership with Berkshire, according to Sharma, is more important than the money that's coming in
Sharma revealed that he has no idea about why Berkshire chose the company and its selection criteria, but felt that his company's moat and
expansion speed could have done the job
One of the fund managers at Berkshire took the call of investing in Paytm, he said, adding that he has not seen Warren Buffett yet in
person.
Berkshire’s investment manager Todd Combs will join the eight-member board of the company
He will replace Amit Singhal, former head of Google’s search business, who has left the board
Sharma admitted that Paytm has more responsibility now towards its existing as well as new investors.
In an interview to ETNow in May last
year, Buffett had said a lot was happening in India, which he found "incredible".
But size has always been a problem, Raamdeo Agrawal of
Motilal Oswal Securities had told the news channel in May.
"Where is the sizeable opportunity Buffett's Berkshire is sitting on $135 billion
cash, which by the year end will be $160-170 billion
The minimum deal size you must suggest is not $100 million, you must suggest high quality company where he can invest a few billion dollars
He is not going to buy a high quality company at any price," Agrawal had said then.
ET was first to report on Monday that Buffett may pick
3-4 per cent stake in Paytm, which may value the mobile payments and online financial services company at over $10 billion
The news is significant, given the fact that the Oracle of Omaha has stayed away from technology companies until a few years ago.
Sharma
added that he has no discussions on future investment from Berkshire
His plan is to ramp up distribution and build on bringing in more consumers.
