CCI approves PayU’s acquisition of BillDesk

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has finally approved the $4.7 billion acquisition of payment gateway BillDesk by Naspers’ PayU. It is also said that CCI had also reached out to competitors of PayU and BillDesk to seek their advice on the deal.

The deal is still awaiting a final regulatory nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While BillDesk has a stronghold in government and Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) segments, PayU is the go-to payment gateway for an array of internet companies.

According to PayU, the two entities combined are expected to process Total Payment Values (TPV) of $147 billion as per numbers for the financial year 2020-21. Gross revenues of both entities as per FY21 numbers stood at $752 billion.

Anirban Mukherjee, CEO of PayU India said, “The combined business will be uniquely positioned in India and will be among the top 10 online payments player globally. Together, PayU and Billdesk expect to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually, along with high quality teams and a culture of innovation and collaboration.”

BillDesk makes, accepts and collects payments. It provides biller network solutions through the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) and enables the collection of recurring payments, besides facilitating over 170 payment methods as a payment aggregator.