Berkshire Hathaway takes stake in India's Paytm

NEW YORK/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) invested 25 billion rupees ($356 million) in the Indian company behind digital payments firm Paytm, according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal, in a foray by the conglomerate into India and the financial payments industry.

An advertisement of Paytm, a digital wallet company, is pictured at a road side stall in Kolkata, India, January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

Billionaire Chairman Warren Buffett’s assistant, Debbie Bosanek, confirmed Berkshire’s investment in India’s One97 Communications Ltd in an email. She said Buffett was not involved in the transaction.

India's Economic Times reported earlier on Monday that Berkshire was in talks to pick up a 3 percent to 4 percent stake in a deal potentially valuing Paytm at over $10 billion. The report bit.ly/2LsBzXT cited people familiar with the matter.

One of Buffett’s key investment deputies, Todd Combs, who is also seen as a potential chief investment officer at Berkshire, is leading the transaction, the newspaper reported. It has been a busy year for Combs, who has also been heading Berkshire’s efforts to start a healthcare joint venture with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

In May, Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting that the financial payments industry is a huge deal around the world and that many companies are working to reinvent the industry.

His conglomerate, meanwhile, has been under pressure to find significant investments and whittle down a $108.6 billion stockpile of cash.

Japan’s SoftBank (9984.T) and China’s Alibaba Group (BABA.N) are among the major backers of Paytm.

One97 Communications, SoftBank and Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

($1 = 70.16 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and Sankalp Phartiyal in Mumbai; Additional reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Steve Orlofsky

(Original source)