23rd May 2023 12:15
(Alliance News) - TBC Bank Group PLC on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire the remaining 49% of digital payment provider Payme for USD55.7 million from the founding shareholders.
The Tbilisi, Georgia-headquartered bank said the deal follows the agreement made upon its acquisition of 51% of the business in 2019.
Payme, the operating brand of LLC Inspired, TBC's 51%-owned subsidiary, is the leading digital payment provider in Uzbekistan for individuals and small businesses, with the exercise price of the option based on pre-determined parameters agreed at the time.
The acquisition will be paid in cash, TBC said, with the figure indicating that Payme's total value is USD113.6 million.
Chief Executive Vakhtang Butskhrikidze said: "We are delighted to be completing the minority buyout of Payme, giving us 100% ownership of this dynamic payments platform. This acquisition is in line with our previously outlined expansion strategy in Uzbekistan to create a leading fintech ecosystem. It will allow us to capture the strong synergy potential between the payments business and our digital bank, TBC UZ, by leveraging a large user base and a diverse product range.
"I strongly believe that our joint efforts in these two businesses will accelerate the achievement of our mid-term targets for our Uzbek operations: return of equity of at least 30%, monthly active users of 5 million, and 10-15% share of the Group's net income."
TBC shares were flat at 2,430.00 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter
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