Prosus cancels agreement to acquire $4.7 billion from BillDesk

Prosus Ventures and its giant payments subsidiary PayU have called off the $4.7 billion BillDesk merger they announced last year, saying "certain preconditions" were not met. had not been met by the deadline in a surprising development a month after the proposed acquisition received approval from the local antitrust watchdog.

“Certain conditions precedent were not satisfied as of the long stop date of September 30, 2022, and the agreement has automatically terminated in accordance with its terms and, therefore, the proposed transaction will not be implemented ", Prosus said in a statement.< /p>

The acquisition, announced at the height of the bull cycle last year, was expected to be the second-largest M&A deal in the consumer internet space in the South Asian market. But in recent quarters, as the market has turned, Prosus itself has eroded considerable value.

It is unclear whether Prosus and BillDesk had agreed to a termination fee. BillDesk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

20-year-old PayU and BillDesk process a significant number of payment transactions in India. If combined, they would have taken a clear lead in the Indian market.

“Together, PayU India and BillDesk will be able to meet the evolving payment needs of digital consumers, merchants and state-owned enterprises in India and bring cutting-edge technology to even more segments excluded from company, while adhering to India's regulatory environment and providing strong consumer protection,” Prosus said when the acquisition was announced.

(more to follow…)