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Prosus NV plans to sell part of its emerging-markets financial technology company PayU to Israel’s Rapyd for $610 million (R10.9 billion).
The deal will exclude the company’s biggest payments market in India, as well as its units in Turkey and Indonesia, Prosus said in a statement on Tuesday.
PayU’s so-called Global Payments Organisation, which forms part of the transaction, operates in more than 30 countries across Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa, and contributes to about a third of PayU’s overall revenue.
"PayU’s GPO business has grown considerably in recent years, with payment volumes growing more than 400% in the past five years alone," Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk said. "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."
READ | Prosus to explore sale of fintech arm PayU, sources say
Prosus, through its controlling shareholder Naspers, made an early bet on China’s Tencent Holdings, and is seeking ways to unlock value after that holding ballooned in worth. Prosus and Naspers recently received approval from the South African authorities to unwind a complex cross-holding structure between the firms.
Rapyd recently entered a partnership deal in payments with another South African firm previously owned by Naspers called Multichoice Group.
The Israeli firm has made a number of acquisitions, including the purchase of payments company Valitor in 2021. The deal with Prosus’s PayU will scale its business and market presence in regions including Europe and Latin America, while giving it access to relevant underlying licenses and payment-processing infrastructure.
Although fintech valuations have taken a knock, the payments sector has continued to be an active area for deal-making, as traditional lenders look to exit the business and large payments groups seek to add scale and expand in new markets. Prosus in October abandoned a planned acquisition of Indian online payments firm BillDesk.
Prosus is reducing costs and doubling down on efforts to turn profitable by the first half of 2025. The company previously indicated it was working on multiple situations that could include mergers and sales as it seeks to boost shareholder returns.
The latest deal follows a strong performance in Prosus’s payments and fintech segment, with revenue growth of 52% to $903 million in the last financial year.
