CCI approves $4.7 bn BillDesk acquisition

CHENNAI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday said it has approved payments major PayU's $4.7 billion acquisition of online payments firm BillDesk.

CCI wrote on Twitter, "Commission approves acquisition of 100% of the equity share capital of http://IndiaIdeas.com (BillDesk) by PayU Payments."

Last year, the Dutch technology company Prosus formalised its investment in India earmarking $4.7 billion for the acquisition of payments platform BillDesk, making it one of the biggest players in the country's fast-growing fintech sector.

As part of the deal, Prosus was to buy all of BillDesk, that had marquee investors like Temasek Holdings, Visa and General Atlantic backing it. Prosus said Billdesk would complement its own PayU business. "Together, the two expect to create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually - four times PayU’s current level in India," the company had said.

"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," Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk had said on a media call.