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
In one of the fifth-largest deal ever in the Indian start-up business, the digital payment service provider, PayU, which is owned by South Africa’s Naspers Group, said on Wednesday it will buy rival Citrus Pay for $130 million.
After the acquisition, which is due to close in Q3 2016, PayU India will have more than 30 million customers and it will process 150 million transactions in 2016 worth a combined $4.2 billion.
With this deal PayU will be able to maximize its existing franchise in e-commerce, and grow in the airline and telecoms industries on the back of Citrus Pay’s platform. PayU informs that it will continue to develop Citrus Pay’s consumer brands, LazyPay and Sellfie.
Citrus Pay managing director, Amrish Rau, will become CEO of PayU in India. He will report to PayU Global CEO, Laurent le Moal. While Nitin Gupta, PayU co-founder, will help complete the transition to the new leadership team before departing PayU to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Citrus Pay founder Jitendra Gupta will drive PayU’s Fintech foray into credit through Citrus Pay’s Lazypay while Shailaz Nag, PayU co-founder will focus on new areas of growth through bank alliances.
“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 Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU in a statement.
Citrus Pay was founded in 2011 by Jitendra Gupta. It has become one of the fastest growing Indian fintech companies.
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