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PayU To Buy BillDesk For $4.7 Billion

Prosus, which owns payments gateway provider PayU, has agreed to buy India's BillDesk for $4.7 billion (about Rs 35,250 crore).

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Prosus branding is displayed outside the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. (Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg)</p></div>
Prosus branding is displayed outside the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. (Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg)

Global payments major Prosus NV, which owns payments gateway provider PayU, has agreed to buy India's BillDesk for $4.7 billion (about Rs 35,250 crore).

In a statement on Tuesday, Prosus said an agreement between PayU and BillDesk has been reached to complete the transaction. The deal is on a cash-free and debt-free basis, Bloomberg reported. The value of the net assets which are part of the acquisition was $256.9 million (approximately Rs 1,927.5 crore), the report said. The deal value “reflects BillDesk’s cash and cash equivalents and the naturally asset light nature of its business model,” it added.

Established in 2000, BillDesk is one of India's oldest digital payments services provider. The company was founded by MN Srinivasu, Ajay Kaushal and Karthik Ganapathy. It provides digital bill payment services through the Bharat Bill Payment System platform and is one of its largest participants. It is also one of India's largest payment aggregator service.

"We’ve invested close to $6 billion in Indian tech to date, and this deal will see that increase to more than $10 billion," said Prosus Group Chief Executive Officer Bob Van Djik in the statement.

The proposed acquisition will see PayU become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume, the statement added.

Previously, PayU has acquired CitrusPay, Paysense and Wibmo in India.

"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," Srinivasu was quoted in the statement as saying.