M&A
PhonePe calls off acquisition of BNPL player Zest Money: report
Fintech unicorn PhonePe has decided to call off the acquisition of the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) startup Zest Money, also based in Bengaluru, after months of negotiations. Failures with due diligence, conflicts over valuation, company viability, and Zest Money's ownership structure were among the reasons the talks are reported to have failed. In November, PhonePe was in the final stages of acquiring ZestMoney for USD 200-300 million. Founded in 2015 by Priya Sharma, Ashish Anantharaman, and Lizzie Chapman, Zest Money offers BNPL plans of ticket sizes INR 50 to INR 5 lakh payable over 30 days to 24 months. It has partnered with 25 banks and non-banking lenders and works with large merchants, including Amazon, Flipkart, Google Pay, Apple, and Xiaomi, to offer services to customers.
From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: Between Aug-2015 and Jun-2022, Zest Money had raised almost USD 115 M from Omidyar Network, Ribbit Capital, Quona Capital, Flourish Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Alteria Capital, Xiaomi, Others (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)
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