‘Baseless and Misleading’: Cashfree Rubbishes Report Of Any Likely Acquisition

Cashfree has rejected a report which said the payment gateway platform is exploring a strategic sale and Pine Labs is leading the race to acquire the company.

“We would like to categorically state that this information on which you have sought comment is completely baseless and misleading. There have been no conversations initiated on this matter whatsoever,” Cashfree told Inc42 in a statement.

“We are keen on driving both organic and inorganic growth and aim to acquire companies with complementary capabilities to strengthen our platform. We would like to reiterate that the information that is making rounds is entirely baseless and has the potential to cause significant reputational harm to our company,” the startup added.

Earlier today, Moneycontrol, citing sources, reported that Cashfree is looking to get acquired as the ongoing funding winter has affected its prospects. The acquisition talks are currently stuck due to differences on valuation, the report said. 

While Cashfree is looking for a valuation of $1.2 Bn, its suitors are unwilling to pay more than $600 Mn, sources told the publication.

Besides Pine Labs, Razorpay and Stripe were also in discussion to acquire Cashfree but have dropped out now, the report said.

In July last year, Cashfree, along with Open, PayNearby, and Fairexpay received the RBI nod for cross-border payments in India.

Earlier this year, Cashfree acquired one-click checkout company Zecpe. Before that, in January, it fired 80 employees as part of an organisational restructuring exercise.

Founded in 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, Cashfree operates a full-stack digital payments solution platform, enabling businesses to collect payments while also offering API banking solutions. 

The startup has raised over $40 Mn so far in multiple funding rounds. Its last round was in June 2021 when it raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the State Bank of India (SBI) at a post-money valuation of $200 Mn. It is also backed by the likes of Apis Partners, Smilegate, and Y Combinator.