PayU India's CEO Anirban Mukherjee elevated to global CEO role

Anirban Mukherjee will join the Prosus leadership team and report directly to Ervin Tu, Prosus and Naspers Interim CEO

Prosus-owned fintech major PayU India's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anirban Mukherjee has been promoted to the role of global CEO of PayU in a big management rejig on October 3.

"In his new role, Anirban will join the Prosus leadership team and report directly to Ervin Tu, Prosus and Naspers Interim CEO. He will be responsible for overall business operations of PayU," PayU said in a media statement.

This comes just two months after Netherlands-based investment firm Prosus announced that the fintech arm PayU is selling a part of its business to Israel’s Rapyd for $610 million.

PayU announced selling its Global Payments Organisation (GPO), which provides e-commerce payment solutions for global merchants in over 30 countries across Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.

Laurent Le Moal who was the global CEO prior to Mukherjee's appointment will step back from the operational management of the day-to-day business but will remain with Prosus and PayU in an advisory capacity, the statement said.

The move is part of the fintech major's India-centric approach.

"As part of the transition to an Indian-focused strategy for PayU, now is the right time for Anirban to run the PayU business. Innovation and progressive regulation are driving rapid change within the digital payments industry in India, and we see many opportunities to support the next phase of growth for PayU," said Ervin Tu, Prosus and Naspers Interim Chief Executive Officer.

In fact, PayU is looking to list in India sometime next year, sources said. The fintech firm is looking at a valuation of $6-6.5 billion. In 2022, PayU appointed former Nykaa Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Arvind Agarwal as its CFO in November 2022.

Newly-appointed Mukherjee will be reporting directly to Tu, the statement said.

"The synergy of the government's Digital India initiative and RBI's forward-thinking regulation presents a significant opportunity for PayU to build a robust fintech franchise out of India. Prosus has been vital in PayU's growth, and we will collaborate closely with Ervin and the Prosus team as we enter the next phase of PayU's journey in India and Southeast Asia," Mukherjee said.

In addition to our India-centric approach, PayU is also witnessing accelerated growth in Southeast Asia.

"We see a vast opportunity in this region to grow and innovate further," The statement said.

PayU India reported $400 million in revenue for the financial year that ended in March 2023, registering a growth of 31 percent, the company said in a statement.