Chinese nationals representing Ant Group step down from Paytm board ahead of IPO

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jul 7, 2021

As digital payments and e-commerce business Paytm prepares for its upcoming initial public offering, all Chinese nationals on its board representing investor Ant Group have stepped down. 

 
Ant Group, which is an affiliate company of Alibaba Group, still has one representative on Paytm’s board of directors who is a U.S. national, based in Florida, after all of its Chinese national directors stepped down. The moves comes as Paytm prepares for its IPO later in the year. Last year, the government ruled to limit Chinese investment in Indian companies which could be a reason for the reshuffle ahead of what will be one of the largest-scale IPOs in India.
 
In filings with the registrar or companies, Paytm reported that Jing Xiandong of Alipay and Guoming Cheng of Ant Financial, who are both Chinese nationals, have ceased to be directors of the company, TNN reported. Additionally, Micheal Yuen Jen Yao, a U.S. national, and Ting Hong Kenny Ho, a Chinese national of Alibaba who are based in Hong Kong, also stepped down from their roles as directors.

Following the departure of the above directors, new entrants to Paytm’s board include Ant Group senior vice-president Douglas Feagin who is a U.S. national and former banker at Goldman Sachs, ET bureau reported. Other appointees are Saama Capital representative Ashit Lilani and Softbank’s Vikas Agnihotri.