Fintech startup Pine Labs has decided to consolidate its position in corporate gifting space by acquiring gift card solutions provider Qwikcilver. Pine Labs has signed a definitive agreement to this effect and will pay nearly $ 110 million for this acquisition. The acquisition will be funded partly by company’s cash reserves and the remaining by existing investors.
The reports of this acquisition taking place were rife since last month. What triggered the reports were rumors that Qwikcilver’s existing investors were looking for a possible exit.
“We see excellent complementary strengths between the Pine Labs’ and Qwikcilver’s gift businesses. While Pine Labs has a strong merchant network, Qwikcilver has market-leading processing and distribution capability. We are confident that both teams’ deep domain experience will accelerate our vision of building a world-class merchant-centric ecosystem” said Vicky Bindra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pine Labs.
The Fintech startup, which is one of the leading point-of-sales companies, had entered the corporate gifting space four years back. The company claims that its online gifting solutions, which are sold under the brand name Pine Perks, are used by 600 organizations across multiple sectors.
Company’s decision to enter corporate gifting space wasn’t merely based on intuition but on strong growth prospects based on statistics. According to a rough estimate, India’s corporate gifting industry is excepted to touch USD 84 billion by 2024. The global gifting market, on the other hand, is estimated to reach USD 475 billion by the same period.
Qwikcilver made its debut way back in 2006 to tap this lucrative market. This was the time when e-commerce was still in nascent stage in India and other emerging economies. However, its early entry as a full-stack gift card service provider has greatly helped in consolidating its position. Today it sells nine out of every 10 gift cards in India. It clocks annualized gross transaction worth $ 1.5 billion across India, Middle East and South East Asia.
