NEW DELHI: Global consumer internet group and technology investor Prosus Ventures (previously Naspers) said on Tuesday that it will acquire Mumbai-based digital payments provider BillDesk for $4.7 billion to bolster its own fintech business under PayU. This will be one of the largest deals in the digital payments space.
“PayU India and BillDesk run complementary businesses within India’s digital payment industry. Together, the two expect to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually — four times PayU’s current level in India,” the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement. Prosus expects Payu and BillDesk together will become one of the leading online payment providers globally, handling a total payment volume (TPV) of $147 billion. For the financial year ended March 2021, PayU’s TPV rose 51% year-on-year to $55 billion across India, Latin America and the EMEA region.
What makes this deal even more significant is that the over 20-year-old BillDesk is one of the oldest payment gateways in India and powers close to 60% of the country’s online bill payments. It competes with the likes of CCAvenue and Razorpay.
Unlike many of its peers, BillDesk had turned profitable long ago. In FY20, BillDesk’s operating revenue had increased 28.5% to Rs 1,804.7 crore ($245 million) from Rs 1,405 crore ($195 million) in FY19. Billdesk generated 65.5% of the topline through electronic transaction processing fees, which grew 19.8% from Rs 993.5 crore ($135 million) in FY19 to Rs 1,190.3 crore ($165 million) in FY20.
Earning from its loyalty points management platform stood out as the second-largest source of revenue, making up 23% of the collections. This deal gives an exit to BillDesk’s investors that include General Atlantic, Temasek Holdings and Visa.