Paynear, a Hyderabad-based company which provides point-of-sale devices and enables digital payments for online businesses, is buying Singapore-based GoSwiff for around ₹650 crore ($100 million).
With this acquisition deal, the company will get a quick access to around 20 new markets where GoSwiff has already established its presence. It will be able to make a quick entry in South East Asian, Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern European markets.
The development was first reported by Economic Times. The deal is yet to be announced officially. However, the companies have confirmed the acquisition but refrained from making revelations about the financials.
As per the report, Paynear is financing the acquisition with a loan from its promoters. The founders may redeem the debt if the combined entity is able to tap capital markets. There could also be an option to get shares for the loan amount.
Prabhu Ram, managing director Paynear, said, “we will leapfrog Indian technology to a world stage and shorten our expansion time by over two years.” He further said,
Now, with merchants almost being forced to use digital payments, we are planning to provide a holistic solution that can generate invoices, catalogue, create customer records and even help with tax filing.
The Hyderabad-based company also has the opportunity to tap more than 30 banks and financial companies that engage GoSwiff ’s service and take over the payment and settlement for a fee.
Paynear was founded by a group of serial entrepreneurs who had sold E-Billing Solutions four years ago. In the current financial year, Paynear expects to record revenue of ₹110 crore with a marginal net profit.
GoSwiff is owned by Swiss billionaire and currency ink maker Maurice Amon, and is worth nearly eight times Paynear’s equity value. Last year, the company posted revenue of $22 million but is yet to turn profitable.