Ashok Kumar Saxena, 71, in legal documents said he invested $27,500 two decades ago in Paytm parent One97 Communications but was never allotted any stock. Paytm has stated declared it amounts to harassment and cited it beneath “criminal proceedings” within the prospectus for its proposed $2.2 billion preliminary public providing (IPO). Saxena, a director from 2000 to 2004, has written to the market regulator urging it to cease Paytm from continuing with the IPO.
Metropolitan Magistrate Animesh Kumar said, “I am directing them to complete the investigation at the earliest.”
Saxena, a director from 2000 to 2004, has written to the market regulator urging it to stop Paytm from proceeding with the IPO. Paytm, in response to a police notice denied that Saxena was a co-founder and said that the document in question was “only a letter of intent”, which “would not materialize in any definitive agreement”.
Corporate governance experts said the tussle could spark regulatory inquiries and complicate the approval of an IPO that could value Paytm, backed by Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, at up to $25 billion.
On Monday, a Delhi district court judge requested the final report of the police’s investigation within three weeks. The next date of hearing is September 13, 2021.
Image source:FuGenX
