Japan’s GMO Payment Gateway makes ‘strategic investment’ in Macrokiosk
By Digital News Asia August 30, 2016
- Aims to further grow its Asian footprint and expand industry verticals
- GMO-PG getting ‘substantial stake,’ Goh brothers will continue to lead
KUALA LUMPUR-based Macrokiosk Bhd announced it has secured a direct strategic investment from GMO Internet Group’s unit, GMO Payment Gateway Inc (GMO-PG), a US$1.9-billion market capitalisation conglomerate.
The amount was not disclosed. GMO-PG is acquiring a “substantial stake” from Macrokiosk from founders and brothers Kenny Goh Chee Ken, Henry Goh Chee Heng, and Goh Chee Seng (aka C.S. Goh), the Malaysian company said in a statement.
GMO-PG has also committed to further cash investments into Macrokiosk to support the company’s plans.
Macrokiosk specialises in enterprise mobility solutions and mobile payment services, while GMO-PG offers payments and financial-related services to e-commerce merchants, banks and leading companies in Japan and across South-East Asia.
“Today marks a key corporate milestone for Macrokiosk as we move a step closer towards strengthening our foothold in the global mobility solutions marketplace,” the Goh brothers said in a collective statement.
“Having GMO-PG as a strategic stakeholder puts us at a higher level playing field, extending beyond our leadership in South-East Asia, and we see that there will be substantial synergies and business leverage arising from this investment.
“It will significantly accelerate the speed in which we adopt new technologies and innovate solutions to meet the dynamic needs of our diverse clients from 18 industries,” they added.
Macrokiosk said it is currently present in 12 countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.
It has more than 250 employees and claims to serve more than 2,000 clients across 37 countries and 18 industry verticals, ranging from financial services and aviation to hospitality and leisure.
“The Goh brothers, being the founders, will continue to lead the team here at Macrokiosk,” said GMO-PG managing director Ryu Muramatsu.
“I am confident that with our over 20 years of experience and expertise, together with Macrokiosk’s strong Asia market presence, wide customer base, strong local network support and ready infrastructure, will allow us to deploy and support our clients from Japan … and to extend our payment services to local banks and leading companies in South-East Asia,” he added.
GMO-PG has been looking into expanding its current provision of e-commerce and payment services to local banks and leading companies in the South-East Asian region.
It currently has five local companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand. Each local company provides global payment services to Japanese e-commerce businesses expanding into the local region and its surrounding markets.
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