Pine Labs eyes Wirecard unit

Pine Labs, the Indian payments company backed by Sequoia Capital and Mastercard Inc., is considering a bid for fallen fintech star Wirecard AG’s businesses in Southeast Asia and India, according to people familiar with the matter.

A potential bid is still at an exploratory stage, as there’s no information available yet on the valuation and finances of Wirecard’s Asian operations, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is confidential. There’s no certainty that Pine Labs will proceed with a formal bid, the people added.

Pine Labs is potentially interested in Wirecard’s regional point-of-sale business, which handles merchants’ payments transactions, one of the people said. That is Pine Labs’ core business in India, and any acquisition of Wirecard assets would allow it to expand those operations further in Southeast Asia, the person added.