BY Richard Summerfield
Prosus N.V. has agreed to acquire BillDesk in a deal worth $4.7bn, subject to approval from the Competition Commission of India.
The deal will increase Prosus’ total investment in Indian start-ups to more than $10bn, the company said in a statement. Prosus’ Indian portfolio includes food delivery company Swiggy, EdTech giant BYJU’S, FinTech company LazyPay, and Urban Company.
Upon completion, the deal is expected to create a financial ecosystem that could handle 4 billion transactions annually, which is nearly four times what PayU, another Prosus FinTech, does in India currently, as well as meet the changing payments needs for multiple stakeholders in the country.
“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,” said Bob van Dijk, group chief executive of Prosus. “We’ve invested close to US$6 billion in Indian tech to date, and this deal will see that increase to more than US$10 billion. 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.”
“We believe this transaction will stimulate both innovation and competition within India’s digital payments industry,” said Laurent Le Moal, chief executive of PayU. “This will not only help to strengthen India’s digital economy, but also bring financial services to those who may have historically been excluded. This ambition is fully aligned with the Government of India’s vision of ‘Digital India’ and is a key objective for PayU across all the communities we serve globally. This deal is an example of how our purpose and our business objectives work together, accelerating growth and increasing access to financial services.”
“BillDesk has been a pioneer in driving digital payments in India for well over a decade,” said M N Srinivasu, co-founder of BillDesk. “This investment by Prosus validates the significant opportunity in India for digital payments that is being propelled by innovation and the progressive regulatory framework put into place by the Reserve Bank of India, India’s central bank. BillDesk has always been committed to making payments faster, easier and more secure. We are excited about what the two great teams at BillDesk and PayU can deliver together as a driving force within the evolving digital payments landscape in India.”
BillDesk was founded in 2000 and counts Visa, General Atlantic and Temasek Holdings, among others, as its investors.
News: Prosus doubles down on India with $4.7 bln deal for BillDesk