Blackstone looks to Japan with Sony Payment Services acquisition

Blackstone looks to Japan with Sony Payment Services acquisition

In the final days of 2023, Blackstone announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sony Payment Services, in a rare payment acquisition for the private equity major.

Blackstone's payment investment tracks record
Key payment investments and acquisitions by the private equity player

The acquisition sees the company take a majority stake of Sony Payment Services, one of the leading payment services providers in Japan. A wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group first established in 1995, it provides payments processing infrastructure to consumers and businesses.

It is believed to be the first fintech Blackstone has purchased in Japan, and is notably one of only a few investments the player has made in the payments space. Out of 191 investments, only 2.6% have been in payments, while of 158 acquisitions just 1.9% are payments focused.

In our 2024 trends piece last week, we predicted continued consolidation of B2B payments in particular, so we expect this to be the first of many acquisitions to be announced over the next 12 months.

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