By Salman SH and Nikhil Pahwa Paytm parent One97 will form a 55:45 joint venture with AGTech Holdings, an Alibaba Group owned unit, to provide "entertainment products and services", including casual mobile and social games, to Indian users. One97 will invest $8.8 million in the venture for its 55% stake, and AGTech Holdings will invest $7.2 million for its 45%.Any additional money required run the gaming venture, apart from the initial capital investment, “will be met by external financing to be raised from banks and financial institutions,” the company added. Ali Fortune Investment Holding Limited, which owns AGTech, is owned by two Alibaba group companies: Alibaba, with 60% stake and Ant Financial, which has 40% stake. Ant Financial owns more than 30% in One97. This joint venture, an announcement says, "is AGTech’s first significant strategic international expansion and an important milestone for the company". The joint venture will have 5 directors: 3 will be nominated by Paytm and 2 by AGTech Media. What the gaming venture might offer in India As of now, AGTech website lists games across genres like puzzles, sports, racing, arcade, but there was no mention what it would offer specifically in India. AGTech's mobile games are listed on Taobao.com, an ecommerce marketplace based out of China which aggregates a number of online services including an app store. Note that Taobao is owned by the Alibaba Group. So with Paytm, the plan could be similar: develop games and publish them on Paytm using an app store approach. In fact, this…
