Shares of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial Services on Tuesday fell up to 7% to the day’s low at Rs 268.20 after both the NBFC and One 97 Communications clarified that there are no talks on Paytm wallet business acquisition.
Jio Financial shares ended 14% higher on BSE on Monday following a media report stating that Jio has been in talks to buy the Paytm wallet business since November. Citing sources, the report had said as part of a larger bailout plan, Jio may offer to acquire Paytm Payments Bank.
“We clarify that the news item is speculative and we have not been in any negotiations in this regard,” Jio Financial had said in an exchange filing last night.
In a separate communications, One 97 also denied talks. “We have not been in any negotiations in this regard. We have been informed by Paytm Payments Bank Limited, our associate company, that they also have not been in any negotiations in this regard,” the company said.
Paytm wallet acquisition would have given Jio Financial, which demerged from incubator Reliance Industries (RIL) last year, a head start in the segment which is dominated by large players like PhonePe and Google Pay.
The NBFC already owns Jio Payments Bank which has re-platformed to launch digital savings accounts and bill payments with a ground network of 2,400 business correspondents. It has also launched debit cards.
In the payment solutions business, Jio has carried out a pilot launch of Jio Voice box, enabled Jio phones with UPI, and is implementing QR codes across the ecosystem.
JFSL has successfully completed a sandbox for consumer durable loans and personal loans. However, post RBI tightening on consumer unsecured lending the company has increased its focus on secured lending including leasing as a product.
Subsidiaries of JFSL include Jio Finance, Jio Insurance Broking, Jio Payments Bank, Jio Payments Solutions, a proposed AMC, and a leasing subsidiary.
