Technology: ‘Ant deal to give Sharma 24.3% voting rights control’

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NEW DELHI: Advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services India (IiAS) in a recent research note has argued that Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma should give investors the comfort that he is the promoter of the fintech firm he founded in 2010 and “not someone who is sitting in the shadows”.

The recent transaction between Ant Group and Sharma allows him control over another 10.3% voting rights of parent entity One 97 Communications which runs Paytm. “This will take his direct voting rights to 19.4%. A further 4.9% equity is held by the Sharma Family Trust, in the name of Axis Trustee Services. We continue to believe that Vijay Shekahr Sharma will have influence over how the 4.9% equity held by the trust will vote on shareholder resolutions, giving him effective control of 24.3% of the voting rights,” IIAS said in a note published on Wednesday.
A Paytm spokesperson said, “Paytm remains a professionally managed company with no identifiable promoter. Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds 9.1%, and after the announced transaction is completed, he will own 19.4%… we follow high standards of governance at our board and the committees.”