Prosus, the consumer internet arm of Naspers, a South African multinational technology company, says its $4.7 billion (R84.8 billion) deal to buy Indian digital payments provider BillDesk has fallen through after the transaction failed to meet certain conditions by the end of September.
The transaction, announced in August 2021, was subject to the fulfilment of various conditions, including approval by the Competition Commission of India which was received on September 5, Prosus said in a statement. However “certain conditions” were not met by 30 September, the firm said without going into details, adding that the “proposed transaction will not be implemented”.
BillDesk, which was founded in 2000, was once described by Naspers as “an Indian success story in the digital payments business”. Along with PayU India, the two businesses were expected to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually.
Prosus had hailed the acquisition as a vehicle to meet the changing payment needs of digital consumers. It is currently looking to invest in markets with long-term growth potential, including Brazil and India, building on businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, as well as in educational technology.
The consumer internet company said it remains committed to the Indian market and growing its existing businesses within the region, having invested close to $6 billion in Indian technology companies since 2005.
Source: News24