Paytm CEO Buys 10.3% in Ant Financial; BintanGo Leans into Live Commerce

by Hannah Dillon on 7th Aug 2023 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Ant Financial sells a 10.3% stake to Vijay Shekhar Sharma; BintanGo ventures into live commerce; and Walmart utilises its bricks and mortar stores to highlight its retail media network.

Paytm's Sharma becomes Ant's largest single stakeholder

The CEO of Paytm is set to buy a 10.3% stake of China’s Ant Financial. Valued at USD$628m (~£492m), the no-cash deal will make Vijay Shekhar Sharma the fintech giant’s single largest shareholder. While Sharma’s stake will rise to 19.42%, Ant’s shareholding will lower to 13.5%, according to Paytm, whose shares rose as much as 11.4% following the announcement.

BintanGo leans towards live commerce

Indonesia’s BintanGo is expanding into live commerce, according to CEO and co-founder Jason Lee. The company already provides monetisation tools and financial solutions for content creators in the Southeast Asian country. The move towards live commerce comes just after Bintan secured an additional USD$2.2m (~£1.7m) in funding, bringing its total to USD$4.8m (~£3.7m).

Walmart turns to stores to highlight retail media network

Walmart is taking a cautious approach to enhancing its retail media network. The shopping giant will utilise in-store radio, screens, and demo stations to increase awareness of Walmart Connect, whose partners span solutions, creative, service, and technology. Referencing Walmart’s scale – which spans almost 4,700 bricks and mortar shops in the US – SVP of retail media sales Ryan Mayward said “we can deliver Super Bowl-sized audiences every week.”