Berkshire Hathaway gets stake in Paytm parent

Warren Buffett-led multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has picked up a stake in One97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of digital payments firm Paytm. Berkshire Hathaway confirmed to multiple media outlets via email that "the investment was made" but added that Buffett was not personally involved in the deal. Earlier, it was reported that Berkshire Hathaway was in talks to invest Rs 2,000-2,500 crore (around $300-350 million) in Noida-based One97 Communications in a deal that could value Paytm′s parent at over $10 billion. The report added that Berkshire was in discussions to pick up a 3-4 per cent stake through a primary infusion. Buffett had told Berkshire shareholders at an annual meeting in May that the financial payments industry was gaining traction across the world. Paytm, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, started off as a mobile recharge platform. It has since diversified to become a digital payment and e-commerce company. It also runs a payments bank (which recently ran into regulatory trouble and stopped adding new customers) and is set to formally launch its wealth management unit, Paytm Money. One97 operates the digital payments and e-commerce businesses through separate entities. It has previously raised funding from Softbank, Alibaba and multi-stage investment firm SAIF Partners.