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Monday, August 27, 2018

Berkshire Hathaway reportedly in talks to buy a stake in India's largest digital payments company

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in India's largest digital payments company, Paytm, according to multiple reports on Monday.

Berkshire is in talks to invest between 20 billion to 25 billion rupees ($286 million to $357 million) in One97 Communications — the parent company of Paytm, the Economic Times reported.

Berkshire is in discussions to pick up a 3-4 percent stake in One97 Communications and the deal is being done through a primary subscription of shares, the newspaper reported, citing two sources familiar with the deal.

The news was also reported by Mint, an Indian financial daily newspaper.

A deal could be signed in the coming weeks that could value Paytm at over $10 billion, according to the Economic Times. The newspaper said that Todd Combs, one of Berkshire's key fund managers, is leading the transaction. He is reportedly seen as a potential chief investment officer at the firm.

If the deal goes through, it could be Buffett's first direct investment in India, the newspaper added.

Berkshire and One97 Communications did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Paytm is India's biggest mobile commerce platform and is already backed by Japan's SoftBank and Chinese tech giant Alibaba and its fintech affiliate Ant Financial. Two years ago, Paytm said it saw a sizable growth in traffic when India unexpectedly pulled 86 percent of its cash from circulation, leading to a massive cash crunch. That allowed digital payment firms to provide an alternative mode of payment to India's consumers.

Read more on Berkshire's potential investment into India's Paytm from The Economic Times report.

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