After five years of position holding, Warren Buffett cut his meat and cleared his position in India's "Alipay" Paytm. Last Friday, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold all of his shares in Indian digital payment company Paytm for approximately 13.71 billion Indian rupees (164.7 million US dollars) through bulk trading. Exchange data shows that BH International Holdings, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, sold over 15.6 million shares of the digital payment company's stock at a weighted average price of 877.29 rupees per share.
According to public information, in 2018, Berkshire Hathaway invested approximately $260 million in Paytm and acquired a 3% stake in this financial services startup. At the exchange rate at that time, the cost per share was approximately 1279.7 rupees, while the selling price was 877.29 rupees. Based on this price, Buffett incurred a loss of 31% per share and approximately 6.2 billion rupees after liquidation.
Paytm is Berkshire Hathaway's first direct venture capital investment in India. According to data from the Indian stock market, Paytm's stock price has risen by 68% so far this year, which seems to be the reason why Berkshire Hathaway decided to clear its position. Paytm has been in a burst state since its listing, and its current stock price is still nearly 60% lower than the IPO price.