Naspers unit Prosus has reached an agreement with Rapyd, a fintech-as-a-service provider, that Rapyd will acquire PayU’s Global Payments Organisation (GPO) for a total cash consideration of $610 million (R11 billion).
In a statement, Prosus says the transaction will enable PayU to focus on the large payments and fintech opportunity in India, where it serves more than 450 000 merchants and over two million credit customers.
The deal follows the recent strong performance in Prosus’s payments and fintech segment, which produced consolidated revenue growth of 52% to $903 million (R16.1 billion) in FY23.
PayU’s GPO business provides e-commerce payment solutions for global merchants in over 30 countries across Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.
According to Prosus, the business contributes around 30% of PayU’s overall revenues. In FY23, total payment volumes for GPO grew 12% year-on-year to $34 billion. It notes this is around three times growth in five years.
Rapyd is an Israeli-based digital payment processing and infrastructure company that delivers end-to-end products covering the payment spectrum from e-commerce payments acceptance, to complex financial solutions, including payouts, foreign exchange, white label wallets and card issuing.
Prosus notes this transaction will help Rapyd to significantly scale and market its presence in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, while also gaining access to relevant underlying licences and payment processing infrastructure.
Bob van Dijk, Prosus and Naspers chief executive officer, comments: “PayU’s GPO business has grown considerably in recent years, with payment volumes growing more than 300% in the past five years alone. The business occupies a strong position in the global fintech space as a result of the investments made in building an exceptional local payments business, with global scale.
“We are now fully focused on the huge fintech opportunity in India, where PayU is the leading payments service provider and is rapidly expanding its credit offering. Innovation and progressive regulation are driving rapid change within the digital payments industry in India, and we see many new opportunities to further expand our business there.
“As one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, we strongly believe in digital India and are excited about the next phase of growth for PayU in India.”
Laurent le Moal, PayU chief executive officer, says: “As we focus our investment on the Indian market, this is an exciting time for Prosus’s payments and fintech segment. PayU’s payments business is one of the largest, fastest-growing and most profitable businesses in India among non-banking players, delivering 42% year-on-year growth in the last year alone.
“Overall, India’s digital financial services opportunity continues to be large and under-penetrated, offering healthy growth for the PayU India business. In areas like lending and digital credit products, where PayU India already supports two million customers and over 450 000 merchants, we see strong growth potential for the future.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
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