Elevation trims Paytm stake via Rs 1,556 Cr bulk deal

Paytm’s parent One97 Communications witnessed a significant shareholder shift this week as Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners) offloaded a 1.86% stake in the fintech major through a bulk deal worth Rs 1,556 crore. 

According to data available on the National Stock Exchange, Elevation Capital and an affiliated entity together sold 1.19 crore equity shares at an average price of Rs 1,305 per share.

The share sale trims Elevation’s ownership in One97 from 15.33% to nearly 13.47%, as per regulatory disclosures. While the investment firm has been one of Paytm’s earliest and most influential backers, this transaction does not mark a full exit.

This comes months after Ant Group, the financial services arm of Alibaba, divested around 4% in One97 Communications for Rs 2,103 crore (about $246 million). Simultaneously, domestic institutional investors have shown growing interest. Motilal Oswal has increased its stake to 5.15% in the Noida-based fintech player.

Paytm’s regulatory environment has also seen movement this year. In August, its subsidiary Paytm Payments Services Ltd (PPSL) secured in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as an online payment aggregator under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

On the financial front, One97 reported a 24% year-on-year growth in revenue to Rs 2,061 crore during Q2 FY26, alongside a profit of Rs 21 crore in the same period.

Elevation Capital’s partial offload highlights a broader shift in the venture ecosystem, where early-stage funds are increasingly monetizing legacy positions in unicorns. For Elevation, the move may free up capital for fresh bets across deeptech, fintech, and B2B categories, areas where the firm has been actively deploying in recent years.