FILE PHOTO: Prosus' logo is pictured on a smartphone in this illustration taken, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Dutch technology investor Prosus hopes to list Indian digital payments and lending firm PayU next year, its chief investment officer said on Wednesday, after clocking a $2 billion gain on its investment in another local firm Swiggy.
While Prosus hoped to list PayU by the end of 2024, it's currently "not on that path", Ervin Tu, Prosus's chief investment officer, said on a media call.
"We're late into [20]24 already, but we hope that it could be a [20]25 event. We're still working with the company to firm the best timing."
Prosus, which is controlled by South Africa's Naspers, owns 100% of PayU.
PayU has had plans to list since late 2023, at a $5 billion to $7 billion valuation. It recently emerged from a 15-month regulatory ban on enlisting new merchants and was authorised in April to operate as a payment aggregator.
It competes with the likes of Tiger Global-backed Razorpay and Walmart owned PhonePe [PHOP.NS] for its core payments operation. PayU also facilitates loans to customers and small businesses.
India, one of the fastest growing digital payments markets in the world, recorded a 44% on-year growth in retail digital transactions in FY24, while payment volume increased 20%, according to Prosus' 2024 annual report.
Tu said India is a "pillar" of the Dutch investor's strategy.
"We have great optimism about the future for India and for us."
His comments come on the heels of another portfolio company Swiggy's successful market debut on Wednesday. Prosus said in a statement that it had gained $2 billion on its investment in the food and grocery delivery firm, in which it still has a 25% stake.
Last month, Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi said he expects more of its Indian portfolio companies to go public in the next 12 to 18 months.
It has stakes in online marketplace Meesho and home services firm Urban Company among other Indian companies.
(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
