Paytm to raise $1.5-2 billion from existing investors SoftBank Vision Fund and Alibaba, total valuation to touch $16-18 bn

E-commerce payment system and digital wallet company Paytm is reportedly raising $1.5-2 billion from existing investors SoftBank Vision Fund and Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial in the latest funding round, a media report said. The latest round of investment, according to The Economic Times, will take Paytm’s valuation at $16-18 billion. The report added that a new investor is likely to join the current round. Paytm’s e-commerce affiliate Paytm Mall is also in talks with online marketplace eBay to raise around $150 million, The Times of India said citing unnamed sources. The report added that the deal between the two might include eBay selling its India business to Paytm Mall. Meanwhile, former Paytm executive Sonia Dhawan, arrested for blackmailing and making an extortion bid on the e-wallet giant’s CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, is expected to join back the company holding the same position as earlier, Moneycontrol reported. Dhawan was under judicial custody for five months. She had been working as the VP of communications and public relations for Paytm. [caption id=“attachment_5076101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The headquarters of Paytm digital payments firm in Noida. Reuters[/caption] Dhawan, who was arrested on 22 October last year, had  claimed innocence  and said that there was no independent witness against her. In February this year, a Noida court had rejected Dhawan’s bail plea. The court while rejecting Dhawan’s bail application said that there was adequate evidence against the former Paytm executive and her active involvement in the crime had come to light. An FIR was filed by Paytm CEO’s brother Ajay Shekhar Sharma on 22 October 2018, had said that Dhawan along with her husband Rupak Jain, Devendra Kumar–a Paytm employee and a person named Rohit Chomwal had stolen private data of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm’s parent, One97 Communication. In April last year, SoftBank Group invested $400 million in Paytm. Alibaba had also put in $45 million in the round. SoftBank, which is among major investors in India’s fast-growing e-commerce sector, owns a 19 percent stake in Paytm’s parent. The Alibaba group, owns 38 percent of One97 Communications. With agency inputs