PayU-BillDesk mega $4.7 Bn acquisition deal falls through

The much-hyped acquisition deal between Prosus-owned PayU and BillDesk has been revoked. 

In August 2021, PayU announced acquiring the Indian online payment gateway firm for $4.7 billion in what was then dubbed one of the biggest deals in India’s fintech space. India’s antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) also granted its approval to the deal last month. 

“However, certain conditions precedent were not fulfilled by the 30 September 2022 long stop date, and the agreement has terminated automatically in accordance with its terms, and accordingly, the proposed transaction will not be implemented,” PayU said in a statement.

If the deal with PayU had succeeded, the duo would have become one of the largest online payment providers globally, handling a total payment volume of nearly $147 billion.

It’s worth noting that PayU has made a few acquisitions in India—CitrusPay, Paysense, and Wibmo. The acquisition of BillDesk would have helped increase investment net in the Indian ecosystem to over $10 billion.

BillDesk, a nearly two decades old firm, accounts for almost 60% of India’s online bill payments. The firm competes with Razorpay and CCAvenue.

The company’s revenue from operations had grown by 17.7% to Rs 2,124.2 crore during FY21 as compared to Rs 1,804.7 crore in FY20, the company’s annual financial statements with RoC show.

Bank fees and service charges were the largest cost for the transaction processing company, accounting for 85.8% of the annual costs. These payments surged 17.8% to Rs 1,613.03 crore during FY21 from Rs 1,369.86 crore in FY20.