Global Fintech Player PayU Expands its Operations to Southeast Asia and Acquires Majority Stake in Singapore-based Red Dot Payment

PayU, the payments and fintech business of Naspers, today announces the acquisition of a majority stake in Red Dot Payment, a Southeast Asia focused online payment solutions provider. With this transaction, PayU expands into the Southeast Asia region and brings the total amount deployed in fintech investments and M&A to north of $700 million over the last three years. The move demonstrates PayU’s commitment to becoming the leading payments solution provider in high-growth markets and one of the largest fintech investors in the world.

Formed in 2011 by a group of payment experts from various Fortune 500 companies in the industry, RDP has grown into Singapore’s largest home-grown and trusted online payment solutions fintech company, delivering innovative, secure and customised payment solutions for all enterprise sizes across Asia and beyond. With an ever-expanding presence across Southeast Asia, including offices in Indonesia and Thailand, RDP has been focused on booming verticals such as online retail, hospitality, charity, food delivery and more.

According to one Google-Temasek study, Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing digital payments markets in the world, and is expected to triple in size to US$240 billion in total payments volume by 2025. The region is already home to 350 million internet users across its six largest countries, exceeding that of the population of the United States, presenting an immense business potential for global merchants. With this deal, PayU successfully creates a winning proposition for global merchants by integrating RDP platforms into the PayU Hub. PayU can now build a best-in-class cross-border product by offering more local alternate payment methods and connectivity.

Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU, commented, “This investment is PayU’s first step towards expansion in the SEA region. We will now provide our existing global merchants access to Southeast Asia with a single API integration, thus strengthening our global PayU Hub platform. Owing to the immense potential that the SEA market presents, PayU sees a vast opportunity in this region to grow and innovate further. We will continue to look for prospects to reinforce our footprints in this market.”

“As part of our business strategy, PayU will collaborate with the promising founders who are driven by an entrepreneurial passion. We’re excited to welcome Randy and the team to PayU as we continue to pursue our vision of creating a world without financial borders,” he further added.

Randy Tan, CEO and Founder of Red Dot Payment, added: “We are proud of how far we have come and that PayU, a leading global fintech operator and investor, recognises the strength, depth, and breadth of the company that we have built with unwavering dedication over the past eight years. It has never been easy for global merchants to enter Southeast Asia as they benefit from RDP’s strong local connectivity combined with PayU’s global footprints and experience. We are pleased that RDP will be part of the Naspers’ fintech portfolio as we look forward to continued extension of our business and market position in Southeast Asia to be the fintech payment solutions champion in this region.” 

Under the terms of the agreement, PayU has acquired a majority stake in RDP in a transaction valuing the company at US$65 million. The founder will continue to retain a stake in the company, while the majority of other shareholders will exit. Evolve Capital Asia acted as the exclusive financial adviser to the Founder and selling shareholders.