PhonePe, an Indian payments business backed by Walmart Inc., is acquiring two wealth management firms for $75 million in total. WealthDesk will cost roughly $50 million, while OpenQ will cost nearly $25 million, including debt, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the facts are confidential. Customers may invest in equities and exchange traded funds through WealthDesk, which was formed in 2016 and is based in Mumbai, India’s financial hub. OpenQ also provides trading baskets and investing analytics to consumers and institutional customers.
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The acquisitions will help PhonePe, which is majority owned by Walmart-backed Flipkart, expand its offerings in a lucrative payments market where tech giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc., and SoftBank Group Corp.-backed SoftBank Group Corp.-backed SoftBank Group Corp.-backed SoftBank Group Corp.-backed SoftBank Group has backed the Paytm totally.
Key Points:
- Amazon made its first investment in India’s wealth management sector, investing $40 million in fintech company Smallcase Technologies Pvt. Google has teamed up with Indian banks to offer online consumer loans.
- PhonePe, managed by Sameer Nigam and started in 2015, was partially split out from Flipkart in 2020. Walmart directly owns around 10% of PhonePe, while the e-commerce behemoth owns roughly 87 percent.
- Mathew Cyriac, who was formerly one of Blackstone Inc.’s top dealmakers in India, has sold his shares in WealthDesk.
- Florintree Advisors’ founder, Cyriac, made a personal investment in the firm in June of last year.