Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is set to invest in One97, the parent company of Paytm. It is reported that Berkshire Hathway may pick up 3-4 % of One97 Communications Ltd for Rs 2000 – 2500 cr. This is the first direct investment by the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ in India.
Todd Combs, the investment manager from Berkshire Hathway has been leading the transaction, and is set to join the One97 board post this investment.
Berkshire Hathaway have selectively invested in public tech companies such IBM and APPLE. While the company has exited from IBM due to various unknown reasons, they still own 5.22% of stock in APPLE which worth over $50 billion, making it the firm’s largest holding.
Earlier, the firm has been avoiding investment in privately-held tech companies but, reports suggest that they have been exploring chances to invest in the transportation network company ‘UBER’. Warren Buffet, had earlier in May 2018, confirmed on their talks to invest in Uber.
One97, which started with mobile VAS services and is now quite well known for online payment transaction system – Paytm and Paytm Bank, has already been backed up by global investors like China’s Alibaba group & Ant financial, Japan’s Softbank group. Paytm is already one of the leading companies in online payment transaction system. This investment by Berkshire Hathway will help the company in gearing up to effectively face the competition expected from PhonePe, Google Pay India and WhatsApp.
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