SoftBank.
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s SoftBank Group has further reduced its stake in beleaguered Indian payments firm Paytm to 2.83% from 5.01%, an exchange filing showed on Thursday.

The conglomerate, which held 17.5% stake in Paytm in September 2022, has trimmed its ownership for more than a year through multiple open market deals, with its most recent cut being in January.

While some global investors like Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and China’s Alibaba Group exited the firm in 2023, others, including a Netherlands-based unit of Chinese fintech firm Ant Financial cut their stake.

Shares of Paytm were down 3.4% in afternoon trade. The stock has fallen 48.5% and lost around ₹234 billion in value since the RBI on January 31 ordered Paytm to wind down its banking arm.