India’s antitrust watchdog has approved PayU’s proposed acquisition of payments gateway BillDesk, the second largest M&A deal in the South Asian market’s consumer internet space, more than a year after the two firms announced their merger plan.
The Competition Commission of India said in a tweet that the deal, which will allow the Prosus Ventures-controlled firm to assume a clear lead in the payments processing segment in India, had been approved, but did not elaborate.
The watchdog extensively evaluated the scope of the deal, announced in August last year, in recent quarters, meeting several competitors and other industry players who had expressed concerns about PayU and BillDesk establishing a “potential monopoly” in the country, people familiar with the matter said.
The CCI asked the two firms to submit a fresh a …
