Point of sale payment solution company Pine Labs has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bengaluru-based gift card solutions provider – Qwikcilver.
The transaction which is about $110 million, has been funded from Pine Labs’ cash reserves with some additional funding from existing investors said the company’s press statement.
Last month, media report suggested that the acquisition will help Qwikcilver’s existing investors such as Amazon, Sistema Asia Fund, Accel India and Helion Venture Partners to make exit with a 5-6X return.
Founders of Qwikcilver along with the team are expected to be a part of Pine Labs. This acquisition will be a shot in the arm of Pine Labs’ merchant-focused and Qwikcilver’s brand-focused software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology platforms to expand its reach to India and overseas.
Also, the combined gift solutions business will become a strong contender with a customer base of over 250 brands and retailers, and 1500 enterprise customers.
Launched in 2006, Qwikcilver is a full-stack gift card service provider for retail as well as corporate entities and consumers. The firm has partnered with retailers such as Future Group, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, PVR, Titan, Landmark and e-commerce firms such as Flipkart, Myntra, Makemytrip and Amazon.
The company claims to manage an annualised gross transaction value of $1.5 billion across India, Middle East, and South East Asia.
On the other hand, Pine Labs’ four-year-old gifting solutions business – Pine Perks is being used by 600 organisations across banking, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, FMCG and telecom industries.
Backed by the likes of Sequoia India, PayPal, Temasek, and Sofina, Pine Labs’ offerings are used by 1,00,000 merchants in 3700 cities and towns across India and Malaysia.
Soon to be Unicorn, Pine Labs had reported a 55.25 per cent growth in revenue to Rs 302.97 crore in FY18. Showing a decent growth, the losses was also shrunk by 33.88 per cent to Rs 2.52 crore in the same fiscal.
