Prosus Ventures cancelled its $4.7 billion acquisition of BillDesk, the European technology giant’s largest acquisition, citing “certain precedent conditions” that were not met, in a surprising move a month after the proposed acquisition was approved by the local antitrust watchdog.
The all-cash deal, announced at the peak of the bull cycle last year, was to be the second largest M&A transaction in the South Asian market’s consumer internet space. Many promised deals have fallen through globally in recent quarters as the market has turned. Prosus, which has invested over $5.5 billion in India, has also lost a significant amount of value in the last year. In recent months, it has sold stakes in other companies (Tencent and JD.com).