Walmart Inc.’s Indian payments unit PhonePe will pay $75 million for two wealth management firms, putting the retail giant in direct competition with Amazon.com Inc. in the country’s rapidly growing money management industry.
PhonePe will pay almost $50 million for WealthDesk and nearly $25 million for OpenQ, according to two persons familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the details are confidential.
PhonePe announced the acquisition of WealthDesk and OpenQ. However, a representative declined to divulge the arrangements’ financial terms.
“The founder of WealthDesk and his whole staff will join the PhonePe group, and both platforms will continue to operate independently,” PhonePe stated in a statement. “After the acquisition, OpenQ will play a key role in the PhonePe group’s wealth ecosystem.”
Customers can invest in equities and exchange traded funds through WealthDesk, which was formed in 2016 and is based in Mumbai, India’s financial hub. OpenQ also provides trading baskets and investing analytics to retail and institutional customers.