Prosus shops BillDesk for $4.7 bn

In one of the biggest deals in the Indian consumer internet space, global player Prosus NV on Tuesday said PayU will buy digital payments provider BillDesk for $4.7 billion (about Rs 34,376.2 crore). With the deal, the Netherlands-incorporated Prosus NV's investment in India will jump to more than $10 billion. The PayU-BillDesk transaction, which is subject to approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), is expected to close by early 2022, Prosus Group CEO Bob van Dijk told reporters during a briefing. "The combination will create a leading digital payments company in India and globally, and it's exceptionally well-positioned to expand deeper into the Indian fintech ecosystem as more and more Indian customers move from cash to digital transactions," he added.

Dijk noted that Prosus has been a long-term investor in India and has invested close to $6 billion in India in tech companies since 2005. With the latest transaction, its investment in India will be more than $10 billion. "That underlines our commitment to our presence in India, our future in India and scaling in India...The country has been the core focus of our investment over the past decade, and I believe it will be a very significant driver of our growth over the next decade as well," he said.

Prosus has invested in companies like Byju's, Meesho, Swiggy, Urban Company and others in India. The latest transaction builds on previous acquisitions by PayU in India, including CitrusPay, Paysense and Wibmo.

It will help PayU - the payments and fintech business of Prosus that operates in more than 20 high-growth markets - become one of the leading online payment providers globally, handling total payment volume (TPV) of $147 billion. BillDesk was founded in 2000 and is backed by investors like General Atlantic, Visa, TA Associates, Clearstone Venture and Temasek. Dijk said along with classifieds, food delivery, and education technology, payments and fintech is a core segment for Prosus. He added that over the next few years, more than 200 million new users are expected to adopt digital payments and the average number of annual transactions per person is expected to rise 10-fold in the next three years from 22 to 220 - which presents a massive growth opportunity.