PayU Gets Indian Regulator's Nod to Acquire BillDesk for $4.7B

PayU​, the leading online payment service provider, has been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire BillDesk, an Indian payment gateway for $4.7 billion.

The deal between PayU and Billdesk will cause the merger of the payments gateway business of 2 of India's Largest Payment Players. It is the largest acquisition in India's digital payment industry, and the 2nd largest in Indian internet history, narrowly edged our by  Walmarts $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart in 2018.

Last August, Prosus, Dutch multinational conglomerate company and PayU's owner, announced that PayU and BillDesk had reached an agreement to acquire BillDesk for US$4.7 billion. The transaction built on previous successful acquisitions by PayU in India, including CitrusPay, Paysense and Wibmo.

Laurent Le Moal, CEO of PayU, commented when the deal was announced: "We believe this transaction will stimulate both innovation and competition within India's digital payments industry. This will not only help to strengthen India's digital economy, but also bring financial services to those who may have historically been excluded. This ambition is fully aligned with the Government of India's vision of 'Digital India' and is a key objective for PayU across all the communities we serve globally. This deal is an example of how our purpose and our business objectives work together, accelerating growth and increasing access to financial services."

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, as reported.