Global: Naspers to buy Iyzico for US$165M

Naspers’ PayU on Tuesday, June 11, announced it has acquired Turkish digital payment services startup iyzico for US$165 million. The deal, which needs approval from the regulators, is expected to close in a few months.

According to Bloomberg, PayU has already deployed over US$500 million across fintech investments and mergers and acquisitions.

Speaking on the occasion, Barbaros Özbuğutu, Co-founder and CEO of iyzico said, “We founded iyzico with the goal to enable SMBs all over Turkey to accept online payments, an endeavor 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.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU said, “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.”

PayU will be able to create an “online bridge” that will connect Turkey, central and eastern European countries, and Africa to increase trading in local currencies in the region, PayU said