01 Aug 2023

PayU to sell its Global Payment Organisation to Rapyd for US$610m

 

Transaction highlights

  • - All-cash transaction valued at US$610m
  • - PayU to now focus on its rapidly growing Indian payments and credit business
  • -  Contributes to reshaping Ecommerce portfolio and focus on highest growth potential markets

Prosus today announces PayU has reached an agreement with Rapyd, a leading Fintech-as-a-Service provider, that Rapyd will acquire PayU’s Global Payments Organisation (GPO) for a total cash consideration of US$610m. The transaction will enable PayU to focus on the large payments and fintech opportunity in India, where it is the leading payments provider, serving more than 450,000 merchants and more than 2m credit customers. The deal follows recent strong performance in Prosus’s Payments and Fintech segment, which produced consolidated revenue growth of 52% to US$903m in FY23.

PayU’s GPO business provides advanced ecommerce payment solutions for global merchants in over 30 countries across Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa. The business contributes around 30% of PayU's overall revenues. In FY23, total payment volumes for GPO grew 12% year-on-year to US$34bn. This is around 3x growth in 5 years.

Rapyd is a digital payment processing and infrastructure company that delivers end-to-end products covering the entire payment spectrum from ecommerce payments acceptance to complex financial solutions including payouts, FX, white label wallets, and card issuing. 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 licenses and payment processing infrastructure.

Bob van Dijk, Prosus and Naspers Chief Executive Officer said:

“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 said:

“As we focus our investment on the Indian market, this is an exciting time for Prosus's Payments & 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 2m 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.

Ends

About Prosus

Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world.

Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities.

The group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, and education technology sectors.

Through the Prosus Ventures team, the group invests in new technology growth opportunities within logistics, fintech, health, blockchain, social and ecommerce platforms, agriculture and more.

The team actively backs exceptional entrepreneurs using technology to improve people's everyday lives.

Each month, over two billion customers across the globe use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built.