Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma says he’s looking for chances to increase stake

NEW DELHI: Billionaire Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder and chief executive officer of India’s biggest digital payments company, said he’ll look to raise his stake as Paytm approaches profitability.

“There is never a day that I would not buy more equity in Paytm,” Sharma told Bloomberg News in an interview on Monday. “The single largest shareholder of Paytm is now an Indian, that is myself, and I believe this is definitely a key milestone.”

Sharma became the biggest investor in Paytm, officially called One97 Communications Ltd, after he acquired shares from China’s Ant Group Co, according to a disclosure on Sunday. Sharma holds 19.42% of the company, replacing AntFin, which now owns 9.9%.