BillDesk, a payment gateway company backed by private equity firms TA Associates and General Atlantic, has struck a deal to acquire French company Worldline’s payment operations in India.
Worldline said in a statement it will sell the India payment operations for an equity value of €60 million (around $70 million). Worldline India’s enterprise value is pegged at €37 million, it said.
This is the most significant transaction for BillDesk since the collapse in 2022 of a deal under which Prosus-owned payments firm PayU planned to acquire the Indian company for $4.7 billion. The deal would have provided an exit to BillDesk investors TA Associates, General Atlantic and Temasek.
TA Associates had first invested in BillDesk, operated by IndiaIdeas.com Ltd, in 2012 while General Atlantic and Temasek joined the cap table in 2015.
In its statement, Worldline said it will enter into a long-term technology and software pact, under which BillDesk will operate Worldline’s advanced payment software.
“This partnership ensures operational continuity, underscores the enduring value of Worldline’s technology assets and establishes a durable relationship between the two groups in one of the world’s fastest-growing payment markets,” Worldline said.
Separately, BillDesk said in a statement the transaction expands its reach into regional markets while strengthening merchant distribution and accelerating monetisation opportunities across the mid-market merchant segment.
The deal brings together BillDesk’s scale in online payments for merchants, businesses, governments, and banks with Worldline India's payment aggregation business, widely deployed bank transaction switching and in-store acceptance infrastructure, the Indian company said.
Worldline expects to close the transaction in the second half of 2026, subject to the completion of customary processes in accordance with applicable laws. The group said it will utilise the estimated cash proceeds of the contemplated transaction to further strengthen the financial profile, enhance strategic flexibility and support the redeployment of capital towards core activities. It also said that it will continue to leverage the existing global capability centres in India, which support its Western European operations.
The deal to sell the India business comes after Worldline sold its North America subsidiaries last year to integrated payments and commerce technology firm Shift4.
