One97 Communications Ltd is an Indian multinational technology company, headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.[1] It was founded in 2000 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Through its subsidiaries and businesses, the company offers digital payment and financial services to consumers and merchants in India.[2][3] It also provides mobile advertising, marketing and payments for merchants.[4]

One97 Communications
Company typePublic
IndustryTechnology
Founded2000 24 years ago, New Delhi, India
FounderVijay Shekhar Sharma
HeadquartersNoida, ,
India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO)
ProductsPaytm
Paytm Mall
Paytm Payments Bank
Paytm Money
Paytm Insurance
Paytm First Games
Paytm Smart Retail
Paytm Insider
BrandsPaytm
Websiteone97.com

In 2021, the company became publicly listed after the largest ever initial public offering (IPO) in India's history.[5][6][7] It was listed on Indian stock exchanges on 8 November 2021.[8][9]

History

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One97 Communications Limited was founded in 2000 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in New Delhi. The company is headquartered in Noida, India.[10] It launched Paytm in 2009 as a digital payments platform to facilitate cashless payments.[11] It owns various businesses and subsidiaries – Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm Payments Gateway, Paytm Payout, Paytm Money, Paytm Insider, Paytm Insurance, Paytm Postpaid, Paytm for Business, Paytm Credit Cards, and Paytm First Games.[11][12]

Funding

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In October 2011, One97 Communications received funding of $10 million from Sapphire Ventures.[13] In January 2015, Ant Financial Services Group picked 25% stake in the company.[14][15][16] In March 2015, Ratan Tata made a personal investment in One97 Communications's Paytm and joined as an adviser of the company.[14] It received funding of $60 million from MediaTek's investment funds Mountain Capital, which made the company's valuation at $4.8 billion in August 2016.[17]

In May 2017, the company raised $1.4 billion from Japan's SoftBank Group, which made its valuation jumped to over $8 billion.[18] Paytm raised $300 million from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in September 2018.[19][20][21] In November 2019, the company secured $1 billion in a Series G funding led by T Rowe Price and existing investors Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund. Discovery Capital also participated in the round.[22] Paytm raised Rs 9,000 crore ($1.4 billion) from SoftBank.[23][24]

Acquisition

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In December 2012, the company acquired MobiVite, a mobile marketing platform[25] followed by the acquisition of Plustx, a cross-messaging platform in August 2013.[26]

One97 Communications was scheduled to launch its IPO In November 2010. However, it shelved the listing plans last moment, citing volatile market conditions.[1][27] On 16 July 2021, the company filed draft prospectus for its IPO of up to ₹16,600 crore[28] and various news outlets reported it to be India's largest Initial public offering ever.[29][30] It is listed on National Stock Exchange of India and Bombay Stock Exchange since November 2021.[31]

The company's initial share sale aimed to raise ₹18,300 crore at a band of ₹2,080-2,150, valuing it at ₹1.39 trillion.[32] The company's IPO was subscribed 18% on the first day, having received bids for 8.742 million shares against the total issue size of 48.4 million shares. [33] Its IPO was subscribed 48% on the second day[34] and it was fully subscribed on the final day of the issue.[35][36] However, its shares fell 13% and 27% respectively on the days succeeding its listing[37] and has continued to slide sparking criticism on its valuation methodologies, inviting regulatory scrutiny.[38]

Financials

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According to RedSeer, it has the largest payments platform in India with a gross merchant value of Rs 4,033 billion in the financial year 2021.[39] According to its annual 2021 report, One97's revenue from operations dropped 14% to Rs 2,802 crore for FY 2021. However, losses narrowed to Rs 1,701 crore during this year, compared to Rs 2,942 crore loss reported in the fiscal year 2020.[40]

One97 Communications reduced losses by 28% to Rs 2,833 crore in the FY 2019-20. Its overall expenses were reduced by 20% in 2019-20 to Rs 5,861 crore compared to Rs 7,254 crore in 2019-18. Its revenue also declined 1% to Rs 3,350 crore in FY20.[41]

Awards and recognition

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In August 2009, One97 Communications was awarded the Emerging Company of The Year at the 10th Annual Voice&Data Award 2009 for its contribution to the VAS space.[42] In the same year, it was also awarded the Deloitte Technology Fast50 India award in 2009.[43] In December 2010, One97 Communications won the Best Digital Innovation category for its 'TalktoMe' product at IAMAI's Digital Awards by the Internet and Mobile Association of India.[44] It won Company of the Year at ET Now-IndiaMART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2010.[45] In May 2011, One97's product Talk2Me was awarded the Best Innovative VAS Product at the ET Telecom Awards by The Economic Times.[46] One97 Communications was ranked #493 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific list in 2012.[47] The company was awarded the VCCircle Annual Awards 2013 for the best PE/VC-backed Media & Communication Company.[48]

In March 2014, One97 was announced as the Most Innovative Company of the Year 2014 at the Business Standard's Awards.[49] In July 2015, it won NDTV's Disruptive Digital Innovator Award.[50] The company was ranked #309 in the list of Fortune Next 500 company for the year 2017.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Kumar, John Satish (9 December 2010). "One97 Communications Defers IPO". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ "One97 Communications Ltd". ibef.
  3. ^ "company history". Business Standard.
  4. ^ a b "The Next 500". Fortune India. 2017.
  5. ^ "Paytm files for India's largest IPO, eyes $25 bn-$30 bn valuation". Business Standard.
  6. ^ Nahar, Pawan. "Paytm hits fresh lifetime low, trades 75% below IPO price". The Economic Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Paytm shares listing on Nov 18". Economic Times.
  8. ^ "Paytm makes history; India's largest IPO bidding ends with 1.89x oversubscription". Financial Express.
  9. ^ "Unicorns with valuation over $1 billion rise in India". The Times of India. 13 July 2021.
  10. ^ Verma, Shrutika (2 December 2016). "Vijay Shekhar Sharma: The 'no cash' champion". Livemint.
  11. ^ a b Joseph, Lancelot (23 August 2021). "Flexing its technology muscle". Business India.
  12. ^ Rai, Saritha (18 November 2015). "One97's Paytm banks on the future of mobile wallets". Forbes India.
  13. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (11 October 2011). "SAP invests $10m in Delhi-based One97 Communications". The Times of India.
  14. ^ a b "Ratan Tata invests in Paytm, joins as adviser". Hindustan Times.
  15. ^ "Paytm raises $660 million". The Telegraph (India). 13 December 2019.
  16. ^ Srinivasan, Supraja; Ganguly, Payal (18 July 2017). "CCI approves Softbank's 20% stake buy in One97 Communications". The Economic Times.
  17. ^ Mishra, Digbijay (30 August 2016). "Mediatek invests $60m in Paytm at $4.8bn". The Times of India.
  18. ^ Chanchani, Madhav; Variyar, Mugdha (19 May 2017). "Paytm raises $1.4 billion from Softbank, valuation jumps to over $8 billion". The Economic Times.
  19. ^ "Paytm raises $660 million". Telegraph India.
  20. ^ Purnell, Newley; Friedman, Nicole (27 August 2018). "Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Invests in India Mobile-Payments Firm". The Wall Street Journal.
  21. ^ "Berkshire Hathaway Invests in India's One97 Communications". Bloomberg News. 27 August 2018.
  22. ^ Shrivastava, Aditi (25 November 2019). "Paytm gets $1 billion topup in latest financing round". The Economic Times.
  23. ^ "Paytm raises $1.4 billion from Softbank, valuation jumps to over $8 billion". Economic Times.
  24. ^ "One97 Communications raises over $660 mn from investors including Alipay". Business Standard. 13 December 2019.
  25. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (18 December 2012). "One97 Communications acquires MobiVite to consolidate footing in mobile marketing space". The Economic Times.
  26. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (8 August 2013). "One97 acquires local language messaging startup Plustxt". The Economic Times.
  27. ^ Modak, Samie (16 July 2021). "One97 taps IPO market in new, bigger avatar 11 years after aborted attempt". Business Standard.
  28. ^ "One97 Communications files DRHP for Rs 16,600 crore issue". The Economic Times. 16 July 2021.
  29. ^ Modak, Samie (27 July 2021). "Paytm files for India's largest IPO, eyes $25 bn-$30 bn valuation". Business Standard.
  30. ^ Kaur, Malavika Makol (9 November 2021). "Paytm IPO, India's largest ever, seen as a 'high-risk' bet for investors". The Economic Times.
  31. ^ "Biggest IPO, biggest crash: Paytm tanks 27% on Day 1". The Economic Times. 19 November 2021.
  32. ^ Sultana, Nasrin (8 November 2021). "Paytm best bet to ride fintech, but valuations lofty". Livemint.
  33. ^ "Paytm parent's IPO sees muted demand on day 1". The Economic Times. 9 November 2021.
  34. ^ "Paytm IPO subscribed 48% at the end of day 2". Indian Express. 9 November 2021.
  35. ^ "Paytm IPO fully subscribed on final day of issue. GMP, other key details here". Livemint. 10 November 2021.
  36. ^ Gupta, Yashi (17 November 2021). "India's biggest public offer subscribed nearly 2 times". CNBC TV18.
  37. ^ "Paytm tumbles another 13% after first-day IPO flop - Times of India". The Times of India. Bloomberg. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  38. ^ "After Paytm Flop Show, India Tightens IPO Valuation Scrutiny: Report". NDTV.com. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  39. ^ Dugal, Ira (16 July 2021). "What Paytm's IPO Prospectus Tells Us About Its Business". BloombergQuint.
  40. ^ Mishra, Digbijay; Manikandan, Ashwin (5 June 2021). "IPO-bound Paytm's revenue drops 14% in FY21, losses narrow to Rs 1,701 crore". The Economic Times.
  41. ^ "Paytm parent One97 in red for 7th year, but cuts losses". Business Today. 24 December 2020.
  42. ^ "Voice&Data Award 2009 bestows Bharti CEO Manoj Kohli with Telecom Person of the Year award". Telecom Tiger. 8 August 2009.
  43. ^ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2014.
  44. ^ "General Motors, One97 and ICICI Lombard win in first IAMAI India Digital awards". Afaqs. 9 December 2010.
  45. ^ "Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2010". IndiaMART. 11 April 2012.
  46. ^ "Powered by One97, Airtel Talk2Me Awarded Best Innovative VAS Product". Telecomlead.com. 9 May 2011.
  47. ^ "Tech" (PDF). Deloitte. 2012.
  48. ^ "Top PE/VC-backed Indian companies, investment banks, law firms honoured at VCCircle Annual Awards 2013". VCCircle. 9 April 2013.
  49. ^ "BS awards 2014: And the winners are …". Business Standard. 24 March 2015.
  50. ^ "Winner of Disruptive Digital Innovator Award: One97 Communications Ltd". NDTV. 18 July 2015.
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