Prosus-owned PayU to snap up Indian payments gateway firm in $4.7b deal

Indian fintech firm PayU, which is owned by global consumer internet giant Prosus, will acquire payment gateway BillDesk for US$4.7 billion.

Prosus announced that an agreement had been reached between PayU and the shareholders of BillDesk for the acquisition.

Team PayU / Photo credit: PayU

The transaction is subject to approval from the Competition Commission of India, the country’s antitrust regulator.

If the deal goes through, it will be one of the largest acquisitions in the Indian fintech sector, said Prosus.

The proposed acquisition will see PayU, which operates in more than 20 high-growth markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally handling a total payment volume (TPV) of US$147 billion, according to the Prosus website.

For the financial year ended March 2021, PayU reported a 51% year-on-year growth in TPV to US$55 billion across India, Latin America, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

Together, PayU and BillDesk expect to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually, which is 4x PayU’s current level in India.

Prosus has invested US$6 billion in Indian tech to date, and this deal will see that increase to more than US$10 billion, according to the company. PayU earlier acquired payments firms CitrusPay, Paysense, and Wibmo in India.

Founded in 2000 by M N Srinivasu, Ajay Kaushal, and Karthik Ganapathy – all ex-employees of accounting firm Arthur Andersen – Temasek-backed BillDesk handles 50% to 60% of billing transactions in India.

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“Along with classifieds, food delivery, and education technology, payments and fintech is a core segment for Prosus, and India remains our number one investment destination,” said Bob van Dijk, group CEO of Prosus.