Today's Edition
A.SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties, has taken a 49% stake in the Middle East arm of Indian fintech company Paytm, according to a regulatory filing by One 97 Communications Limited, the parent company of Paytm.
According to the filing, Abbar Global Opportunities Holdings Limited (AGOH) will be allotted 76,862 equity shares of face value Dh100 each, representing 49% of the post-issue paid-up share capital of Paytm Arab Payments L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Paytm Cloud Technologies Limited (PCTL). The value of the transaction is Dh7.69 million and is subject to receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.
Following completion of the transaction, Paytm Arab Payments L.L.C. will cease to be a wholly owned subsidiary of PCTL and will become its 51%-owned subsidiary, while continuing to remain a step-down subsidiary of One 97 Communications Limited.
The company clarified that there is no direct sale or disposal of stake by One 97 Communications Limited. The dilution has arisen due to a share subscription investment at the subsidiary level.
The filing states Paytm Arab Payments L.L.C. was incorporated on April 30, 2025, and the share subscription agreement was executed on December 22, 2025, with expected consummation by February 28, 2026.
Separately, One 97 Communications Limited said its wholly owned subsidiary, Paytm Cloud Technologies Limited, has approved plans to incorporate new wholly owned subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Indonesia as part of its international expansion strategy in payments and financial services.
In a stock exchange disclosure, the company said the proposed subsidiaries will be used to expand the distribution of Paytm’s technology-led merchant payments and financial services stack. The expansion will be pursued through a combination of organic growth, local licensing, strategic investments and partnerships, depending on the market.
The names of the proposed entities will be disclosed to the stock exchanges after approvals are obtained, while the exact dates of incorporation will be announced following completion of the process. The approvals were granted at a PCTL board meeting held on December 22, 2025.
One 97 Communications Limited said it is a professionally managed company with no identified promoter, and that the investor does not belong to the company’s group.
The investment marks Alabbar’s expansion into the fintech sector. He is also the founder of noon, a regional e-commerce platform operating across multiple Middle East markets and a market competitor to retail giant Amazon in the region.
