10th Apr 2019 13:11
LONDON (Alliance News) - Georgia's TBC Bank Group PLC has bought a 51% stake in an Uzbek payment platform for USD5.5 million.
LLC Inspired owns the Payme brand, and ha 1.3 million customers in the central Asian country. Payme, founded in 2011, allows utility, person-to-person, and loan repayments, as well as e-commerce purchases.
Clients grew 70% in 2018 year-on-year, TBC said, with revenue and net income rising 42% and 25% respectively.
TBC Chief Executive Vakhtang Butskhrikidze commented: "The acquisition of Payme is another important step in our planned expansion into Uzbekistan. It will enable us to gain immediate access to a large customer base in the country and use our core digital strengths in Georgia to innovate in the Uzbek market.
"With Payme joining our effort, we intend to further develop the payment business and also use it as a platform to develop new ecosystems in the country. I am excited about the partnership with Payme's highly successful management team and I look forward to working closely together with the team in devising and executing the bank's strategy in Uzbekistan for the benefit of our stakeholders."
"In addition, the acquisition is expected to increase the total number of users the TBC Group and its subsidiaries are serving by more than 50% to 3.7 million," he added.
Shares were 0.1% higher on Wednesday afternoon at 1,584.00 pence each.
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TBC Bank Group