PayU, the global online payment service provider, announced on Wednesday (Sept. 14) that Citrus Pay, an Indian payments technology player, will become part of its Indian operation.
According to a press release, PayU said it paid $130 million for Citrus Pay, marking the largest ever M&A cash deal in Indian FinTech. The deal is aimed at growing PayU India customers to more than 30 million, processing a forecasted 150 million transactions this year worth a combined $4.2 billion and marking year-over-year growth of 50 percent. Under the terms of the deal, PayU can also bring additional financial services to the market for its business and consumer customers.
“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 the press release. “Everyone at Citrus Pay and PayU is driven by an entrepreneurial passion to increase access to financial services in emerging markets. We are excited about the opportunity to capitalize on our shared heritage in payments and build a broader financial services proposition, something PayU is focused on across all of the 16 countries we operate in.”
Amrish Rau, currently Citrus Pay managing director, will become CEO of PayU in India. Reporting to PayU Global CEO Laurent le Moal, he will lead an entrepreneurial management team across PayU and Citrus Pay. Shailaz Nag, PayU cofounder, will focus on new areas of growth through new bank alliances, and Citrus Pay Founder Jitendra Gupta will drive PayU’s FinTech push into credit through Citrus Pay’s Lazypay. Nitin Gupta, PayU cofounder, will help complete the transition to the new leadership team before departing PayU to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
