Global consumer internet group Prosus on Tuesday announced that an agreement had 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 Proses, which operates in more than 20 high-growth markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV).
“We have a long and deep relationship with India, having supported and partnered with some of its most dynamic entrepreneurs and new tech businesses since 2005. We have invested close to $6 billion in Indian tech to date, and this deal will see that increase to more than $10 billion,” Bob van Dijk, Group CEO of Proses, said in a statement.
“BillDesk exemplifies the ambition and expertise of Indian entrepreneurs, who are among the best in the world, with exceptional abilities to build products and services and understand scale and value. This is critical in a country as vast as India,” Dijk added.
PayU focuses on high-growth markets and operates across three distinct businesses. They are — payments for domestic and cross-border transactions, credit solutions for consumers and small businesses, and strategic investments in innovative fintech companies.
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 more of the excluded sections of the society while adhering to the regulatory environment in India and delivering robust consumer protection.
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.
BillDesk, founded in 2000, is an Indian success story and one of the leading payment businesses in the country.
