Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Invests into India’s Paytm Digital Payments Company One97 Communications

Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet is currently negotiating to purchase a stake in India’s largest digital payments company, Paytm. The investment may amount to anywhere between 20 to 25 billion rupees in Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications.

The company will also acquire a 3-4 percent stake in One97 Communications. The deal is being brokered through a primary subscription of shares. If the deal does go forward, it may be signed in the coming weeks and Paytm could gain in value to the amount of over $10 billion. The Economic Times reported that Todd Combs, a key fund manager at Berkshire, is leading the transaction and is reportedly seen as the firm’s chief investment officer.

At this point, One97 and Berkshire have not commented or respond to requests for comment. Paytm is the largest mobile commerce platform in India and it is already backed by SoftBank Japan and Alibaba, its affiliate. Paytm also noticed an increase in traffic when India removed 86 percent of its cash from circulation, leading to a cash crunch. As a result, digital payments stepped in and provided an alternative mode of payments.