Fatfish has completed acquisition of Malaysia based Pay Direct Picture: Getty Images
Fatfish completes acquisition of Pay Direct, consolidates position in the lucrative BNPL market in SE Asia
Tech
share
Today’s deal is another step towards Fatfish’s plan to accelerate its BNPL presence in the huge and lucrative Southeast Asian market.
Tech venture firm FatFish Group (ASX:FFG) has now completed its acquisition of Southeast Asia-based payment gateway provider, Pay Direct Technology, which was announced earlier last month.
Fatfish has officially acquired 55 per cent of Pay Direct, which operates QlicknPay, a payment gateway solution that allows financial institutions to rapidly onboard merchants to accept online payments.
Pay Direct processes roughly $32 million worth of monthly transactions, and $380 million annually.
The platform works with some of the biggest names in the region, which includes the likes of OCBC Bank, the second largest bank in Southeast Asia.
Public Bank, one of Malaysia’s most profitable banks and the sixth largest in Southeast Asia, is also a client of Pay Direct.
The platform also provides services to around 500 merchants that process payments online using Pay Direct’s payment gateway.
This includes merchants such as Wise (formerly TransferWise), and TeaLive, Southeast Asia’s largest lifestyle tea brand.
“This strategic acquisition of Pay Direct will complement Fatfish’s goal to accelerate its Buy Now Pay Later and other digital financing services in Southeast Asia,” says Fatfish Group CEO, Kin W. Lau.
Expansion into BNPL
The acquisition of Pay Direct is the latest move in Fatfish’s effort to expand its BNPL footprint in Southeast Asia.
In April, the company effectively increased its stake in Singapore’s SmartFunding to 89.4 per cent, from 78.7 per cent.
Smartfunding is a fintech platform licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, that has recently launched its BNPL offering to SMEs and corporates in Southeast Asia.
Prior to that acquisition, Fatfish also acquired an 85 per cent stake in Forever Pay, a lending platform based in Malaysia.
Forever Pay has a lending licence awarded by Malaysia’s Ministry of Housing and Local Government, giving Fatfish an immediate competitive advantage in the Malaysian market.
Via Forever Pay, FFG aims to launch its expansion into the retail BNPL sector in Malaysia, as well as other consumer-facing digital finance products.
Strong revenues
Fatfish posted a strong last quarter, underpinned mainly by its insurtech investee company Fatberry, who recorded an impressive 6,800% growth in revenue from June 2020.
Fatberry’s main product offering is car and motorcycle insurance, which was estimated to be worth approximately $2.7 billion in 2020.
The solid result came as Fatfish reaps the benefits of a selective portfolio strategy in the key Southeast Asian markets.
The company traces its roots back to 2012, when it was founded as a tech incubator partner in Singapore.
It now focuses on emerging global technology trends across various sectors of video games, esports, fintech and consumer internet technologies.
Apart from its footprints in Southeast Asia, Fatfish also owns a majority stake in publicly-traded Abelco Investment Group, a company traded on the Swedish exchange, Nordic Growth Market.
From a trading range near 1c in early 2020, shares in FFG have now surged and are currently trading at 8.5c.
This article was developed in collaboration with Fatfish, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
