Leading financial services provider PayU has acquired the Israel based ZOOZ in an effort to expand its global reach across the rapidly developing geographical areas. Reportedly, PayUA, a fintech and electronic-payment arm of one of the largest technology investors in the world – Naspers, has completed the acquisition, however the transaction amount was not disclosed.
Sources familiar with the matter speculate that the deal is likely to be valued in between USD 80 billion to USD 100 million. PaYU and Zooz will be working together to develop a payments infrastructure that will include features such as smart routing and fraud management.
For those uninitiated, established in 2010 by Ronen Morecki and Oren Levy, ZOOZ offers a platform for open payments that allow merchants to connect to several payment providers. The open payments platform is also expected to help the merchants in harmonizing and consolidating their payments data, analyzing it and in making smarter data-based outcomes.
Under the terms of the deal, Zooz co-founders will join PayU’s global leadership team and will work on business development and technology advancement strategies. Zooz’s team of 70 experienced technical & payment specialists will also merge with PayU’s team aiming to expand the technical abilities of the businesses.
If reports are to be believed, on completion of the deal, Zooz will be 100% owned by Naspers, in turn leading the technology investor to reinforce its the payments division that supports its business plan of extending financial services across the emerging markets.
By acquiring Zooz, PayU’s total amount of investments & acquisitions in global fintech will surge to over USD 350 million, cites sources.
PayU’s CEO, Laurent le Moal stated that the company is among the most active investors inside the fintech space and is always monitoring the market for opportunities that innovate and help their clients to develop.