China: TA Associates invests in YeePay

Far East Horizon, a provider of tailored financial leasing and other value-added services, partnered with TA on the investment. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2003, YeePay provides online and offline integrated payment solutions enabling consumers and businesses to make and receive payments via the internet, mobile devices and phones.

The company focuses on a variety of sectors, including airline and travel, asset management, digital entertainment, education, fast moving consumer goods, insurance and telecom. YeePay has access to more than 100 commercial banks in China and was among the first businesses to obtain a nationwide payment license from the People’s Bank of China. YeePay is also licensed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission to conduct mutual fund-related transactions, and by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for cross-border transactions. The Company has over 93,000 active merchant customers and operates in more than 20 provinces. In 2014, YeePay processed USD 77 billion of transactions, up over 100% from 2013. YeePay is headquartered in Beijing, with 31 regional offices across China.

According to iResearch, the third-party payment industry in China has grown significantly in recent years with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54.1% between 2011 and 2013, and a forecast CAGR of 40.1% between 2013 and 2017. Total transaction volume was USD 3.2 trillion in 2013 and is expected to reach USD 12.4 trillion by 2017.

YeePay joins TA Associates’ other current payment processing investments, including BillDesk (IndiaIdeas.com) in India and BluePay Processing in the US. YeePay also joins TA’s other current and past investments in Asia, including Aicent, BillDesk (IndiaIdeas.com), Dr Lal PathLabs, Fractal Analytics, Forgame Holdings, Idea Cellular, Micromax Informatics, Nintex, Rategain, SpeedCast together with its six associated acquisitions, and Tega Industries.