FILE PHOTO: A person sits on a chair subsequent to Western Union forex exchange workplace in Prague, Czech Republic, September 8, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny/File Picture
DU(BA)I (Reuters) – Western Union, the world’s largest cash switch agency, has acquired a 15% stake within the digital cost unit of Saudi Arabia’s STC Group for $200 million.
The acquisition of stc pay, which values the corporate at 5 billion riyals ($1.three billion), will finance its capital and assist long-term enlargement plans, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator stated in an announcement on Saturday.
STC Group chairman Mohammed bin Khalid Abdullah Al Faisal stated the funding mirrored the corporate’s place as a “digital enabler”. He stated the deal created the primary “Saudi unicorn and the first fintech unicorn in the Middle East”.
Unicorns are typically outlined as non-public firms valued at $1 billion or extra.
Sources instructed Reuters final month that STC had employed banks to rearrange a possible preliminary sale of shares in its product and companies growth arm, Options by STC.
Decreasing dependence on cash is a part of Saudi authorities efforts to modernise the financial system of the world’s largest oil exporter.
STC stated its stc pay unit is the primary licensed fintech firm by the Saudi Arabian Financial Authority, the Saudi central bank, and has greater than 4.5 million customers.
Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Modifying by Mike Harrison
