"There Is Never A Day That I Would Not…”: Vijay Shekhar Sharma After Becoming Paytm’s Largest Shareholder (Image: Instagram.com/vssx

“There is never a day that I would not buy more equity in Paytm,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of One97 Communications Ltd., known to operate Indian multinational financial technology company that specializes in digital payments and financial services Paytm Ltd., told Bloomberg news in an interview.

“The company is relentlessly focused on generating and earning every dollar it spends,” he added in the interview.

“The single largest shareholder of Paytm is now an Indian, that is myself, and I believe this is definitely a key milestone,” Mr Sharma, now the largest shareholder and Significant Beneficial Owner of the digital payments company after acquiring a 10 percent stake from AntFin. After this Mr Sharma has increased his stake to 19.42 percent.

Paytm was founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and is headquartered in Noida, India.

Paytm”s initial public offering (IPO) was the largest in India”s history, with the company raising nearly Rs 18,000 crore by selling shares at Rs 2,150 apiece. However, the stock did not perform well after its listing, and has since fallen by nearly 80% from its issue price.

“We have been informed by Antfin, that their shareholding in the Company has reduced from 23.79% to 9.90% of the total equity share capital. Accordingly, no person affiliated with Antfin will qualify as a Significant Beneficial Owner (“SBO”) of the Company,” Paytm had informed the BSE last week.

“We have been informed that Resilient Asset Management B.V., an overseas entity 100% owned by Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, holds 10.30% of the total equity share capital of the Company. Accordingly, Mr. Sharma will be the only SBO of the Company, consequent to the change of shareholding. Mr. Sharma’s shareholding in Paytm (direct and indirect) now stands at 19.42% of the total equity share capital,” the filing added.