Naspers Ltd.’s PayU agreed to buy Turkish digital payments company Iyzico for $165 million in its biggest fintech acquisition yet. The deal will expand the Dutch unit’s exposure to Turkey’s e-commerce market, which is growing at more than 10% a year, the company said in a statement. The acquisition must still be approved by regulators and is expected to close in the next few months, it said.
Nasper’s PayU has invested more than $500 million in the industry since 2016 as the firm positions itself to profit from rising internet adoption and e-commerce in emerging economies. Its focus on payments, one of fastest growing areas in finance, puts the company in a position to take a share of an industry that Boston Consulting Group forecasts will produce $1 trillion in new revenue through 2027.
Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU, commented: “PayU has acquired Iyzico in a landmark move to deliver on our mission of local consolidation and becoming the number one payments provider in every high growth market we operate in. We are delighted to welcome founders Barbaros, Tahsin and the wider Iyzico team to PayU as we integrate this high growth business in a key step on our journey to becoming the world’s number one fintech investor.”
Founded in 2013, Iyzico provides secure payments to over 300 marketplaces (with over 400,000 personal sellers of different sizes) as well as 30,000 online merchants which are using its checkout solution. Amazon, Nike, H&M and Zara are among the brands which have chosen Iyzico as a trusted partner in Turkey.
Barbaros Özbuğutu, Co-Founder and CEO of Iyzico, added: “In 2013 we founded Iyzico with the goal to enable SMBs all over Turkey to accept online payments, an endeavour that turned into a team of 150 and billion Turkish liras of transaction volume. And today we join forces with PayU, a leading global fintech operator and investor with a strong heritage and track record in payments in high growth markets. We look forward to joining the PayU team and working alongside highly skilled experts in payments, strengthening the company’s leading position in Turkey and beyond”
Iyzico’s founders will have a small, minority stake in the new combined Turkish business, a representative for PayU said.
Complementing PayU’s own digital offering, the deal will allow PayU to not only strengthen its presence in Turkey and accelerate its SMB business with Iyzico’s automated solutions but facilitate building an “online bridge” between Turkey and CEE countries and Africa to encourage more cross-border trade in local currencies in the region.
