Global consumer internet group and technology investor Prosus NV announced on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached between PayU and the shareholders of the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk to acquire BillDesk for $4.7 billion.
The proposed acquisition will see PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus which operates in more than 20 high-growth markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV).
Prosus said Billdesk would complement its own PayU business. “Together, the two expect to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually – four times PayU’s current level in India,” the company said.
BillDesk, founded in 2000, is a leading payment businesses in the country. “Together, PayU India and BillDesk will be able to meet the changing payments needs of digital consumers, merchants and Government enterprises in India and offer state-of-the-art technology to even more of the excluded sections of society, while adhering to the regulatory environment in India and delivering robust consumer protection,” Prosus added.
The transaction, which is subject to approval from the Competition Commission of India, builds on previous successful acquisitions by PayU in India, including CitrusPay, Paysense and Wibmo.
The deal will bring Prosus’s cumulative investment in Indian tech to more than US$10 billion. Prosus CEO said that “Payments and fintech is a core segment for Prosus, and India remains our number one investment destination.”
This article was first published on livemint.com