Mobile payments company Paytm's owner, One97 Communications Ltd, is in preliminary discussions to pick up a stake in private-sector lender Yes Bank, media reports said.
Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor reached out to Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in August to sell his stake, and that of his family, for Rs 1,800-2,000 crore, Moneycontrol reported, citing sources it didn't identify.
The Times of India said the planned stake sale is part of Yes Bank's efforts to raise fresh capital. It added that the deal is dependent on the Reserve Bank of India's approval since Sharma already owns Paytm Payments Bank.
Meanwhile, homegrown scooter sharing startups Vogo and Bounce are raising funds from global growth and late-stage investors, The Economic Times said.
Citing three people aware of the matter, the report said that Vogo was in talks to raise about $50 million from Goldman Sachs while rival Bounce has received soft commitments of $75 million from existing investors Accel, B Capital, Falcon Edge and Sequoia Capital.
Earlier this year, Vogo raised Rs 63 crore in a round led by Kalaari Capital and Rs 25 crore in venture debt from Alteria Capital.
A media report recently said that Tiger Global Management was in preliminary talks to invest up to $50 million in Vogo.
Bounce had raised Rs 505 crore in June in its Series C round of funding led by Accel and Sequoia.
In another development, Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital Ltd has called off the sale of its general insurance unit to Hero Fincorp, Bloomberg reported.
The talks were at an advanced stage but ended after Hero Fincorp struggled to raise funds for the acquisition, the report said.
The planned sale is part of Ambani's efforts to cut his group’s debt. Ambani is now reaching out to other potential buyers to sell Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd, the report added.
