Citrus Pay is backed by Sequoia Capital, Ascent Capital, econtext Asia and Beenos Asia
Naspers Group-owned online payment services company PayU has agreed to acquire Citrus Pay for US$130 million, in one of the largest M&A deals in the fintech domain in India.
With this deal, PayU expects to grow its India customer base to more than 30 million and process an estimated 150 million transactions worth US$4.2 billion in 2016.
PayU will also be able to maximise its existing franchise in e-commerce, and grow its business in the airline and telecoms industries on the back of Citrus Pay’s platform. PayU will continue to develop Citrus Pay’s consumer brands, LazyPay and Sellfie.
Amrish Rau, currently Citrus Pay Managing Director, will become CEO of PayU in India. He will report to its global CEO Laurent le Moal and lead a talented entrepreneurial management team across PayU and Citrus Pay.
“Today’s announcement is a significant milestone for both businesses, as well as the fintech industry in India. It is exciting for everyone across the PayU and Citrus teams as we bring together new capabilities that will help us to better serve our collective clients,” said Moal.
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“Everyone at Citrus Pay and PayU is driven by an entrepreneurial passion to increase access to financial services in emerging markets. We are excited about the opportunity to capitalise on our shared heritage in payments and build a broader financial services proposition, something PayU is focused on across all of the 16 countries we operate in,” he added.
Citrus Pay Founder Jitendra Gupta will drive PayU’s fintech foray into credit through Lazypay, while PayU Co-founder Shailaz Nag will focus on new areas of growth through bank alliances.
PayU Co-founder Nitin Gupta will help complete the transition to the new leadership team before departing PayU to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Citrus Pay was founded in 2011 by Jitendra Gupta and Satyen Kothari. The company operates mobile wallet, P2P money transfer and payment gateway businesses. It is backed by Sequoia Capital, Ascent Capital, econtext Asia and Beenos Asia.
Following the completion of the deal, Citrus Pay will be wholly-owned by Naspers, strengthening its payments division and supporting its strategy to grow its financial services footprint across emerging markets with long-term growth potential. Johannesburg-headquartered Naspers has invested in a number of companies in India, including Quikr.
In an interview with e27 last year, Kothari said that fintech is seeing a lot of focus on the tech part rather then the fin part. It is the good trend that merchants are appreciating tech-based thinking.
The Indian online payments industry is rapidly growing, attributed to a rise in smartphone use and an active policy push to drive financial inclusion. A recent Boston Consulting Group report estimated digital transactions will hit US$500 billion by 2020, ten times its current level.
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