Paytm IPO To Open On November 8 Fintech's parent firm One97 Communications announced a price band of INR 2,080 to INR 2,150 a share. The IPO will close on November 10 and the scrip aims to start trading on the bourses a week after that

Fintech firm Paytm's parent One97 Communications will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on November 8 with a price band of INR 2,080 to INR 2,150 a share.

The IPO will close on November 10 and the scrip aims to start trading on the bourses a week after that.

The firm, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, announced on Thursday that it is targeting a valuation of $20 billion in the IPO.

The Noida-based firm was initially planning to raise INR 16,600 crore, split equally between a primary share sale and an offer for sale (OFS), but has now increased it to INR 18,300 crore. This will be the largest IPO of India to date.

The increase in IPO size is fully through the OFS route, where China' Ant Group--an existing shareholder--is executing nearly half of the OFS.

Japan's SoftBank, another major investor in Paytm, is slated to sell shares worth INR 1,689 crore and Elevation Capital will sell shares with an aggregate value of more than INR 2,030 crore.

Sharma, who owns close to 15 per cent in the company, will sell shares worth over INR 402 crore. Paytm's revenue is driven by payment and financial services, which now contribute around 77 per cent of its total revenue, it stated.

Paytm said it will use the IPO proceeds to grow and strengthen the Paytm ecosystem "including through acquisition and retention of consumers and merchants and providing them with greater access to technology and financial services. It will use the capital to invest in new business initiatives, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, besides general corporate purposes".

The company has mandated investment banks Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc, and ICICI Securities Ltd to manage the issue.