Blog Vertex

The $4.7 billion acquisition of online payments gateway company BillDesk by the Dutch-listed company’s Indian subsidiary PayU Payments has been canceled by Proses, the investment arm of South African multinational Naspers.

According to people in the know who spoke to ET, the “abrupt move” that was announced on Monday was largely brought on by the ongoing global market correction that made the transaction from a year ago “over-priced.”

The company’s decision to terminate the agreement comes just one month after India’s anti-trust watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), approved the general terms of the August 2021 deal.

After Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of a majority stake in online retailer Flipkart in 2018, this ends what would have been the second-largest buyout of an Indian digital technology startup.

“Specific conditions precedent were not satisfied by the September 30, 2022 long stop date, causing the agreement to be automatically terminated,” wrote Prosus’ head of investor relations, Eoin Ryan, in a note that was posted on the company’s website. He didn’t speak further about these issues.

Top business executives keeping tabs on the deal’s development believe that the BillDesk-PayU deal’s pricing is under extreme pressure as a result of the recent sharp decline in the value of major US payments firms, which can range from 50 to 70%. When ET questioned Proses and MN Srinivasu about the de’s termination, neither party responded.

FAQ

• How much transaction amount get canceled?

Ans.  $4.7 billion

• What is the name of the payment company?

Ans. BillDesk

• What is the full form of CCI?

Ans. Competition Commission of India 

For years, Dream, a well-liked YouTuber, was only known to his followers as a smiley-face cartoon character.

The online Minecraft gamer, who has 30 million subscribers, never moves a mouse during streams, though he does occasionally show up on camera wearing a mask.

But everything appeared set to change after his friends—as well as other YouTubers—posted videos in which they appeared to be responding to Dream without his mask.

Then he uploaded a video in which his face was first seen.

The most popular Dream videos, including one that has received more than 115 million views, have tens of millions of views and are both about the best-selling video game in the world, Minecraft.

In a five-minute video that has received more than 12 million views, he introduced himself as “Clay, also known as Dream.”

He wanted to be able to go out more after a friend moved to the US, where Dream is based, without worrying about leaks or rumors, he said.

Dream confessed, “I’ve been bunkered up.” It’s a little bit excessive that people are attempting to reveal my face and learn how I look.

He claimed that while his face wouldn’t appear in his Minecraft videos, he might start working with his friends to create “IRL content” (content filmed in real life).

The dream showed his face to a few select people in the days prior to his public debut, asking them to share their responses online.

One person commented that Dream “looks like a baseball player,” Karl Jacobs, who claimed to be one of Dream’s closest friends.

FAQ

• Who showed his face?

Ans. smiley-face cartoon character

• How many subscribers does he have?

Ans. 30 million subscribers

• How many views does his most popular video have?

Ans. 115 million views

The coach of the home team claimed that football fans “died in the arms” of players during a crush at Indonesia’s Kanjuruhan stadium as the death toll among children reached 32.

Javier Roca claimed that the Java match crush, which resulted in 125 fatalities, left him “mentally shattered.”

According to the authorities, the disaster’s youngest victim was only three years old.

Following the use of tear gas by police against fans who surrounded the field of play after the game, 18 officers are currently under investigation.

Supporters fleeing the gas were trampled on and suffocated in crushes, injuring more than 320 additional people. The kids, according to Indonesia’s deputy minister of women’s and children’s affairs, ranged in age from three to seventeen.

According to a witness who spoke to the BBC, police fired numerous gas rounds “continuously and quickly” after the situation with the fans turned “tense.” When the game ended in a 3-2 loss for the home team Arema FC to their rivals Persebaya Surabaya, fans ran onto the field.

Social media videos depict fans scaling fences to get away. In different videos, it seemed like there were dead bodies on the ground.

A sea of smoke in the stands, according to one witness named Chandra who spoke to the BBC, instantly panicked spectators. Little children were sobbing, women were collapsing, screams could be heard everywhere, and everyone was fleeing, he said.

Another fan, Eko, complained that the crowd of people trying to leave the stand prevented him from using the exits.

“I returned with friends to the top of the stands. So I covered myself with a scarf to keep the smoke out. I then leaped into the field and descended through the side door after that,” he continued.

Debora, her daughter who is 17 years old, was seriously hurt during the panic, according to Ester Andayanengtyas, who told the BBC that Debora broke her neck and experienced brain swelling.

FAQ

• How many children were reached at Indonesia’s Kanjuruhan stadium?

Ans. 32

• What is their age of Debora?

Ans. 17 years old 

• Who is the witness?

Ans. Chandra

The response from Ukrainian forces on the eastern front is unchanged as Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the annexation of large portions of sovereign Ukrainian territory, issues nuclear threats, and calls up hundreds of thousands of reservists. 

In one of the four regions that President Putin is currently illegitimately claiming as his own, we travel to front-line positions in the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk. Our journey is broken up into phases.

We move more slowly to cross the Bakhmutovka River, then move more quickly to cover exposed ground before squeezing through a perilous curtain of downed power lines. We sprint the last few meters. The shelling continues nonstop throughout; it is a common sound of war.

The crackle of small arms fire, however, can be heard when we get close to the front-line troops inside a building that has seen combat. The distance between the two sides allows for rifle-to-rifle fire between them.

The Russians are in front of us by about 400 meters (437 yards) and are making a lot of effort to get closer. There is a Russian sniper in the back, as we are told.

The unit commander is solemn and direct at his underground post, where a ginger cat keeps him company.

Oleksandr, a 31-year-old, complains that things are difficult right now. It is demanding. Everyone is pressed for time. Although the enemy is very close by, we are still standing and responding.

He calls the most recent referendums held by President Putin “delusional,” and he asserts that Ukrainians will not submit to Russian tyranny.

“Those referendums, in my opinion, won’t affect anything. Putin’s army will face opposition from our army as we drive them off our territory, he vows.

FAQ

• What is the name of the river?

Ans. Bakhmutovka River

• What is the age of Oleksandr?

Ans. 31-year-old 

• What does he call Putin?

Ans. Delusional