Naspers terminates R85-billion BillDesk acquisition

Naspers-controlled technology investor Prosus has terminated its agreement to buy Indian payments platform BillDesk.

The acquisition, announced in late August, was worth US$4.7-billion, or R84.8-billion at the time of writing this article (R68.7-million at the time it was first announced).

Prosus, which is listed in Amsterdam, had made the offer to buy BillDesk through its PayU subsidiary.

“Closing of the transaction was subject to the fulfilment of various conditions precedent, including approval by the Competition Commission of India (CCI),” Naspers said in a statement to shareholders on Monday.

“PayU secured CCI approval on 5 September. However, certain conditions precedent were not fulfilled by the 30 September long stop date, and the agreement has terminated automatically in accordance with its terms and, accordingly, the proposed transaction will not be implemented,” it said in the tersely worded statement.

Read: Naspers spinoff Prosus to buy India’s BillDesk for R69-billion

At the time of the announcement of the deal, Prosus said that together PayU and BillDesk would “create a financial ecosystem handling four billion transactions annually”.

“Naspers, through its subsidiary Prosus, has been a long-term investor and operator in India — investing close to $6-billion in Indian technology companies since 2005. Naspers remains committed to the Indian market and growing its existing businesses within the region,” Naspers said.  – © 2022 NewsCentral Media

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