Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm, effectively controls 24.3% of the voting rights after the Antfin Deal

<p>According to a research by the investors’ consulting firm IiAS, One97 Communications’ chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma effectively has a 24.3% stake in the company’s voting rights.</p>
<p>According to Institutional Investor Advisory Services’ research, Sharma should explicitly indicate that he maintains control and provide investors with assurance that he is the promoter and not someone who is “sitting in the shadows”</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-123794″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-images-41.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com images 41″ width=”1499″ height=”842″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-images-41.jpg 299w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/theindiaprint.com-images-41-150×84.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1499px) 100vw, 1499px” title=”Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of Paytm, effectively controls 24.3% of the voting rights after the Antfin Deal 3″></p>
<p>Sharma increased his ownership in the business to 19.42% via a recent non-cash transaction with Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV (Antfin), a subsidiary in the Alibaba group.</p>
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<p>However, Antfin still retains ownership of the economic rights to the stock that is being given to Sharma.</p>
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<p>According to IiAS, the Sharma Family Trust holds a further 4.88 percent of the company’s stock under the name Axis Trustee Services.</p>
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<p>“We continue to believe that Vijay Shekahr Sharma will have influence over how the 4.88 percent of equity held by the trust will vote on shareholder resolutions, giving him effective control of 24.3 percent of the voting rights,” the study said.</p>
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<p>Sharma now serves as Paytm’s chairperson, managing director, and CEO.</p>
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<p>According to the consulting firm, despite the listing price’s considerable reduction in shareholder value, the fact that the business loses money and hasn’t yet shown profitable growth, or the fact that many people think he is overpaid, investors haven’t turned against him.</p>
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<p>The current chairperson, managing director, and CEO is Vijay Shekhar Sharma. As a director, he is not subject to retirement by rotation and is eligible for a board seat for the duration of his executive position. Since the corporation started on its present path, he has remained essential to the different shareholders’ agreements, according to the article.</p>
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<p>Sharma’s ability to receive stock options was called into question by IiAS in January despite the fact that he had rights comparable to those of a promoter.</p>
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<p>Paytm’s creator, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, is not also the company’s promoter. He is the chairman of Paytm’s board, a non-retiring director, and he is eligible for a board position provided he owns at least 2.5% of the company’s stock. He is given stock options since he is not a promoter. To put it another way, Vijay Shekhar Sharma does not have the obligations or limitations that come with being a promoter, according to IiAS.</p>
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<p>One 97 Communications Limited is one of several publicly traded firms that have not designated its founders as promoters, according to the advice company, and this tendency is frequently seen in businesses that have private equity investors in their pre-IPO cap-table.</p>
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<p>“These founders benefit from a number of the privileges enjoyed by promoters, such as board permanence, board control, and management leadership. There is one significant distinction. According to Indian rules, they are eligible for stock options and their equity holdings are not subject to the same limits as those of promoters, the business had said.</p>
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<p>Paytm did not respond to an email inquiry right away.</p>