PayU buys Israeli payment technology firm Zooz

[July 23, 2018]  TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Online payment company PayU, a subsidiary of Naspers <NPNJn.J>, said on Monday it agreed to acquire Israeli payment technology provider Zooz to support its expansion in high-growth markets.

PayU's statement, which confirmed an earlier report by Israeli news website Calcalist, did not disclose the size of the acquisition but said it brings its total investments and acquisitions in financial technology to more than $350 million since 2016.

A source with knowledge of the deal told Reuters it was valued at around $80-$100 million.

Netherlands-headquartered PayU provides online payment services for customers in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Zooz and PayU will work together to create a payments infrastructure whose features will include fraud management and smart routing, PayU said.

Zooz connects merchants to multiple banks and by analyzing various parameters decides which bank to route the payment transaction to, finding the bank with the lowest fee.

As part of the deal, due to close this summer, Zooz's co-founder and CEO Oren Levy and Chief Technology Officer Ronen Morecki will become part of PayU's global leadership team, focusing on tech and business development. Zooz's 70 workers will also become part of PayU.

Following completion of the deal, Zooz will be wholly owned by Naspers, an Internet and entertainment group.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer and Kirsten Donovan)

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