Paytm not interested in buying stake in Yes Bank: Vijay Shekhar

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Wednesday said he was not interested in buying a stake in Yes Bank and denied having had any talks with the founder of the private sector lender, Rana Kapoor. Sharma. Sharma instead aims to convert Paytm into a small finance bank (SFB) after it completes five years as a payments bank.

“It wasn’t confirmed or correct. If we as a group have a bank and, I as a chair of the bank, own 51% of the bank, it sounds too far-fetched for an individual or company (to pick up Kapoor’s stake),” he said in an interview.

Sharma also said that the payments firm, one of India’s most valued startups at $16 billion, wants to remain private for a long time.