Berkshire Hathaway invests in Indian e-payment firm

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is looking towards the east now, to India. The company has reportedly bought a stake in One97 Communications – the parent company of Paytm, a major provider of mobile payment services in the South Asian country.

Multiple reports had earlier stated that Berkshire Hathaway was planning to pick up a 3-4% stake in One97 Communications for around $285 million to $356 million, valuing Paytm at more than $10 billion.

There is no official confirmation of the exact value of the investment that has been announced but it is said that Buffet was not personally part of the deal.

Other investors in Paytm include SoftBank Group Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Paytm is a prominent name in the digital payments and ecommerce space in India. Other investors in Paytm include SoftBank Group Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA). Notably, this is Buffet’s first investment in India, a region that boasts of vast market potential for ecommerce and digital payments.

Paytm’s rivals include PhonePe, which is owned by e-commerce major Flipkart. Flipkart was recently acquired by Walmart Inc. (WMT), in an attempt to carve a position in India alongside e-commerce behemoth Amazon (AMZN).

Buffet recently increased his stake in Apple (AAPL) by 5% to over 250 million shares. After Apple crossed the $1 trillion milestone, this stake is said to be valued at over $50 billion.

It was reported earlier this month that the billionaire also raised his stake in Goldman Sachs by 21% to over 13 million shares, which are said to have a value of over $3 billion.