SoftBank s 20% stake buy in One97 Communications approved: CCI (Lead)

New Delhi July 18 (IANS) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday said it has approved Japan-based SoftBank s acquisition of 20 per cent stake in One97 Communications the firm which owns electronic payment and e-commerce company Paytm.

In a tweet the CCI said: "@CCI India approves acquisition of 20 per cent stake in One97 Communications Limited by SoftBank Group Corp." Last month the company had filed a notice with CCI stating that: "The proposed combination involves the acquisition of equity shares of One97 Communications Limited (OCL) by SoftBank Group Corp. (SB Group) through SoftBank Group Capital Limited (SBGC)." Paytm is One97 s flagship brand and is India s largest digital goods and mobile commerce platform. Paytm is also a leading payment solutions provider to e-commerce merchants using its RBI approved semi-closed wallet. At present SoftBank Group Alibaba Group Ant Financial Services Group SAIF Partners Sapphire Ventures and MediaTek Inc. are investors in the company. --IANS rv/dg