The 2021 Paytm explainer

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Editor's note: A couple of weeks ago, Bloomberg reported that One97 Communications, or Paytm, is planning a $3 billion public listing later this year.  The startup, backed by investors including Berkshire Hathaway Inc., SoftBank Group Corp. and Ant Group Co., plans to list in India around November and its offering could coincide with the Diwali festival season, said the person, asking not to be named because the details are private. Paytm, formally called One97 Communications Ltd., is targeting a valuation of around $25 billion to $30 billion. If successful, Paytm’s initial share sale would surpass Coal India Ltd.’s offering, which raised more than 150 billion rupees in 2010 in the country’s largest IPO so far. From From Paytm Targets $3 Billion IPO in What Would Be India’s Largest Debut • Bloomberg It should surprise no one that the moment the story dropped, and follow-ups came out in the local press, the startup ecosystem in India went into a sort of rapturous ecstasy.  Paytm is one of the country’s prized unicorns. The company was last valued at upwards of $16 billion and in …