Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc

Rapyd acquires PayU GPO

Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc ("SBO" or the "Company") is pleased to confirm that one of its private equity investments, Rapyd, the leading global Fintech-as-a-Service provider, has announced the acquisition of PayU Global Payment Organisation ('GPO'; not including PayU's India, Turkey and Southeast Asia operations) from Netherlands-based Prosus.The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

PayU GPO is a leading provider of best-in-class payment solutions to both enterprise and SMB segments in emerging markets, operating in over 30 countries worldwide. Rapyd will purchase PayU GPO for $610 million.

Rapyd's industry-leading fintech platform, extensive global payments network, and local markets expertise, coupled with the acquisition of PayU GPO, further solidifies Rapyd's position as a dominant global fintech leader continuing the company's trajectory towards an IPO. The acquisition is a strategic move that continues the company's global expansion across emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. Combined with PayU GPO, Rapyd boasts an unprecedented:

-     100+ transacting countries

-     Over 250,000 merchant clients globally

-     Expansion of the Rapyd Global Payments Network to over 1,200 payment methods supported by 18 settlement hubs

-     41 countries that are licensed or regulated

-     A portfolio of Tier 1 enterprise clients including Adidas, Google, Ikea, Meta, Netflix, Rappi and Uber

-     A wide range of partner channels that acquire SMB merchants including integrated software vendors (ISVs), independent sales organizations (ISOs) and payment facilitators (PayFacs)

-     A combined global workforce of 1700, working in 22 offices worldwide and representing 50+ nationalities

SBO announced its investment into Rapyd in January 2021, as part of the company's $300m Series D financing round. SBO investment is via its co-investment partner for this deal, Target Global, a pan-European growth and venture-focused firm and early stage investor in Rapyd. In August 2021, the Company confirmed that Rapyd had completed a $300m Series E funding round, which resulted in an uplift to the Company's investment. This followed news of Rapyd's acquisition of Icelandic payments solutions company, Valitor, which was announced in July 2021.

Tim Creed and Pav Sriharan, two of the Company's co-portfolio managers, commented: "We are delighted with the progress that Rapyd has made since our initial investment and are pleased to see the announcement of this acquisition, which will continue to drive the company's strong global expansion and enhance Rapyd's payment capabilities."  

Enquiries:

Schroder Investment Management Limited

Paula Lockwood (Company Secretarial)

Augustine Chipungu (PR)                                                               020 7658 6000

Peel Hunt

Liz Yong, Luke Simpson, Huw Jeremy (Investment Banking)

Alex Howe, Chris Bunstead, Ed Welsby, Richard Harris (Sales)    020 7418 8900

About Schroder British Opportunities Trust plc 'SBO'

SBO invests in a diversified portfolio of UK-focussed public and private equity companies that the team believe possess long-term growth prospects.

Further information on the Company is available at www.schroders.com/sbo