Prosus reinforces India focus with US$4.7bn deal

Prosus NV again reinforced the fact that it considers India a priority investment location on Tuesday after it completed a $4.7 billion deal for remittance platform BillDesk.

This deal also automatically makes Prosus one of the largest contenders in India’s fast-growing fintech sector.

Prosus is Europe’s attempt to provide a formidable rival to SoftBank and its Vision Fund. It indicated that BillDesk will serve as the perfect addition to its own PayU operations, which is based in India, LatAm and Europe.

The Netherlands-headquartered firm has made India a focal location for a long time, yet this BillDesk deal is its most valuable so far. 

“This is really a transformative transaction for PayU and its position as one of the leading payment and fintech providers in India and actually in the world,” said Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk.

Prosus portfolio has firms spread across industries such as consumer internet companies, educational software, food delivery, fintech, and online marketplaces. It also runs some of the firms.

Prosus’s is most popular as an owner of a 28.9% stake in China’s Tencent. The firm is convinced that more deals like this one will give it the valuation needed to contend with bigger global players.