Prosus aims to take fintech company PayU public in 2025 as Dutch investors look to shift more focus to India. The company on Wednesday said the market is a mainstay of its investment business, following the impressive listing of food delivery and quick-commerce company Swiggy for a $2 billion gain.
PayU, which is wholly owned by Prosus, was originally scheduled to go public by this year at a valuation of $5 billion to $7 billion. “Although we are already in the second half of 2024, we are hopeful that this will be a 2025 event,” Prosus Chief Investment Officer Ervin Tu said on a call with reporters.
The payments and lending company recently emerged from a 15-month regulatory ban on acquiring new merchants and received approval to operate as a payments aggregator in April. It competes with Razorpay and Walmart Inc.'s PhonePe in India's fast-growing digital payments market.
In a recent note to clients, UBS said PayU's valuation increased from $3.7 billion to $4.2 billion due to increased transaction multiples among global payment peers. Prosus sold PayU's global business last year.
Naspers-owned Prosus has invested in several late-stage startups in India, including social commerce company Meesho and home services provider Urban Company. The company's CEO Fabricio Broisi said more portfolio companies could go public within 18 months.