India’s antitrust watchdog approved PayU’s proposed acquisition of payments gateway BillDesk, the second largest M&A deal in the South Asian market’s consumer internet space.
The Competition Commission of India announced in a tweet that the deal, which will give the Prosus Ventures-controlled firm a clear lead in India’s payments processing segment, had been approved, but provided no further details. In recent quarters, the watchdog thoroughly evaluated the scope of the deal, announced in August last year, meeting with several competitors and other industry players who had expressed concerns about PayU and BillDesk establishing a “potential monopoly” in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.