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Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Sony Payment Services (SPSV), one of Japan’s leading payment service providers, from Sony Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group.
Blackstone to acquire Sony Payment Services
Sony Bank will roll over a certain portion of its equity and will continue to support the growth of SPSV as a minority investor. This marks Blackstone’s first investment in the financial technology sector in Japan.
Sony Group established its payment service business in 1995, which became a standalone company in 2006. Today, SPSV is one of the top payment service providers in Japan, offering high-speed and secure infrastructure for customers and businesses to process online payments.
Japan is the fourth largest electronic card payment market in the world with a market penetration of 9.1%, representing significant room for growth. SPSV is supported by Japan’s JPY 22.7 trillion e-commerce market and the rapid uptake of cashless payments around the world.
“Sony has been a longstanding partner to Blackstone. Our partnership goes all the way back to Blackstone’s founding nearly four decades ago – we started out as a boutique M&A firm, and Sony was one of our earliest clients,” says Steve Schwarzman, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Blackstone
“We are proud to once again partner with a leading corporation in Japan and deepen our presence in the country, a key market for Blackstone where we’ve cultivated valuable relationships based on trust and shared success.”
Hidehiko Nakamura, President & Chief Executive Officer, Representative Director, Sony Payment Services, said: “SPSV has solidified a healthy market position and earned the trust of customers as a high-quality payment service provider.
We believe this partnership with Blackstone will boost SPSV’s capabilities through investments in IT and talent to help accelerate its growth journey, particularly at an exciting time of growth for the electronic payment industry in Japan.”
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