Competition authorities in India have given the green light to Prosus, the global internet arm of Naspers, to finalise its largest acquisition to date, an R80bn takeover of payments provider BillDesk.
The deal will create a top global payments unit and is a sign that the Amsterdam group is doubling down on its investment in the Asian country.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in a statement on Monday that it had approved Prosus’s payments unit, PayU, acquiring 100% of the equity share capital of IndiaIdeas.com Ltd, which trades as BillDesk.
In August 2021, Prosus said it had acquired the Indian digital payments provider for $4.7bn but was awaiting approvals, including from the Indian competition authorities.
Without giving finer details about whether any conditions or remedies had been imposed on the transaction, the commission said a “detailed order” would follow.
A Prosus spokesperson said: “We’re pleased that the CCI has approved the proposed transaction involving the acquisition of BillDesk by PayU. Completion of the transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of remaining conditions precedent, which we will continue to work through.”
Founded in 2000, BillDesk is a payments provider based in Mumbai. The company, whose previous investors include payments giant Visa, was first valued at more than $1bn in 2015.
PayU is one of the world’s largest online payment service providers, operating in more than 50 markets, with more than 450,000 merchants and customers across Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia.
The Prosus subsidiary says its India unit and BillDesk run complementary businesses in that country’s digital payment industry. Together, PayU expects to create a financial ecosystem handling 4-billion transactions annually, four times its current level in India.
It hopes to use BillDesk’s huge scale to grow its lending business in the world’s second-most populous country and create a top-10 global payments business. Combined, the companies will handle a total payment volume of $147bn.
Getting the green light from the authorities wasn’t enough to sway Prosus shares into positive territory on Tuesday, as the stock closed the trading session 1.77% weaker at R996.73, dragged down by its biggest investment, Tencent. The Chinese internet giant, listed in Hong Kong, was down 1.5%.
Update: September 6 2022
This story has been updated with additional information.
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