Prosus to pay $4.7bn for rival Indian payments firm in largest buyout yet
European technology giant Prosus has reportedly put forward $4.7bn for its largest ever deal, to buy Indian payments platform BillDesk, in yet another foreign investment in the country’s blossoming tech sector.
BillDesk currently competes with Prosus’s payments firm PayU in India which means the deal will open up a fair portion of the growing payments market.
The proposed acquisition would mean PayU’s total payment volume will swell to around $147bn annually, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Prosus, owned by South African holding company Naspers, has confirmed its PayU will pay the $4.72bn sum in cash.
A number of international heavyweights have been betting on India’s payments market, which hosts the likes of Alibaba, Berkshire Hathaway and SoftBank-backed Paytm, as the pandemic has pushed more and more consumers to conduct transactions online.
The Amsterdam-listed technology giant, which is Chinese tech giant Tencent’s largest shareholder, posted its strongest annual performance to date in late June, with revenues soaring by a third to $28.8bn.
The group had already doubled its e-commerce portfolio value to $39bn throughout the year, before its latest acquisition, which likely spurred it to take the leap with its largest buyout so far.
The BillDesk buyout will notch Prosus’ total investments in India’s technology sector up to an eyewatering $10bn, over the span of around 16 years.
Prosus is part of a growing collective of foreign investors with eyes on India, joining Japanese investment giant SoftBank, which has injected hefty amounts into payments platform Paytm, delivery firm Zomato and most Uber rival Ola.
Earlier today reports emerged that Ola is reportedly sitting on plans to raise up to $1bn through an initial public offering (IPO), joining a long line of high-ranking floats in the country.
Zomato, also backed by China’s Ant Group, in late July rallied a market capitalisation of $12bn, while Paytm filed for a $2.2bn IPO.