Munish Ravinder Varma, the managing partner at Softbank has stepped down from the board of– the fintech company One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, and PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar, according to regulatory filings filed by both the companies on Tuesday.
Varma’s alternate director Vikas Agnihotri has also resigned from the Board of Paytm.
“Munish Ravinder Varma, Non-executive, Non-Independent Director of the Company, has tendered his resignation vide resignation letter dated March 14, 2022, with effect from the closure of business hours on March 14, 2022, due to personal commitments and other preoccupations,” Paytm said in a filing.
Softbank Vision Funds India Holdings (Cayman) owns 17.47% in Paytm, while in PB Fintech, SVF has a 5.77% stake.
As a part of its global policy, Japanese investor Softbank is bowing out its representative from the boards of Indian listed companies such as Paytm and Policy Bazaar.
Notably, there will be no impact on Softbank’s investment in these companies, according to media reports who quotes an anonymous source aware of the development.
“As part of global policy, Softbank’s representative will step down from the board of listed companies in India. At present, there are two Indian entities in this case- Paytm and Policy Bazaar. These companies have been informed about the decision,” another source aware of the development said.
According to the source, Softbank has gotten out from 90% of the portfolio companies globally within six months.
SoftBank has injected $10 billion in Indian new-age companies, with two of its two major portfolio companies being PB Fintech and Paytm which debuted on bourses last year.
Paytm Stock:
Shares of One97 Communications Ltd plummeted nearly 13% on Tuesday, with gaining the losses partially on Wednesday, as it rose about 7%.
Today, the stock reached its new 52-week-low at Rs 572.
Shares of One97 Communications started the week on a negative note, as its shares tanked heavily after the RBI asked Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted Paytm Payments Bank to halt onboarding new customers amid “material supervisory concerns” observed in the bank.
In one week, the stock of Paytm has erased over 15% of the gains.