Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF)’s acquisition of the global payments business of Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DOCOMO accelerates its growth strategy, according to analysts at Liberum, which upped its target price to 345p from 260p.
DOCOMO Digital is one of the largest mobile network operators in the world, said the bank, while simultaneously operating in one of the countries with the highest proportion of payments by direct carrier billing (DCB).
As a result, the acquisition almost doubles Bango’s end user spend (EUS) and accelerates growth by two years.
The bank had previously forecast EUS (end user spend) of US$1.4bn by 2024, however, the addition of US$3.5bn by way of the takeover means it should reach EUS of US$8.6bn this financial year.
Additionally, Liberum said the takeover consolidates its position as a leading payments platform, brings 60 telco partners onto the Bango platform, extends existing relationships with the likes of Vodafone and brings new merchants, such as Discovery+ onto the platform.
Bango also announced a multi-year agreement with DOCOMO whereby the Japanese firm will use the Bango platform for payment processing across app stores and merchants.
Liberum forecasts this agreement will contribute roughly 60% of the EUS, around US$2bn.