PayU, the mobile payment division of media and e-commerce group Naspers, has agreed to buy a majority stake in India-based online lending platform and portfolio company PaySense at a valuation of $185m, the Economic Times reported today.
PayU, an existing shareholder in PaySense, will conduct the all-cash deal in a two-stage process over the next two years , beginning with all the other investors exiting. PaySense will then merge with PayU’s lending platform, Lazypay.
Founded in 2015, PaySense offers personal and consumer loans as well as car financing and specialised loans for eventualities such as home improvement, medical treatments or weddings. The service is available to employed and self-employed workers including those without a credit history.
PayU has committed $200m in fresh funding to the company and has provided $65m of the capital already. Once the deal closes it will own an 80% stake in PaySense, up from the 20% it currently holds, while PaySense co-founder and chief executive Prashanth Ranganathan will retain a stake.
Ranganathan will head also PayU’s credit business in India as the chief executive of the merged entity and will be joined by his existing management team.
PaySense had raised more than $25m, most recently securing $18m in a mid-2018 series B round led with an $11.5m investment from PayU. The corporate was joined by venture capital firms Jungle Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners, the same three having already injected $5.3m in series A funding in 2017.
Nexus Venture Partners had previously supplied $2.3m in seed capital for the company in 2015. PaySense’s shareholders also include unnamed individual investors.
