Razer to buy out e-payments platform MOL for S$81m

File photo of Razer CEO Tan Min-Liang. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)

The company, which currently holds a 34.9 per cent stake in MOL, plans to buy out the remaining 65.1 per cent for about US$61m (S$81 million).

"This acquisition will combine Razer’s zGold and MOL Global’s MOLPoints virtual credits, creating one of the largest virtual credits platforms for gamers in the world,” said Razer’s co-founder and chief executive officer Tan Min-Liang in the press release.

Razer's zGold is a virtual credit service for gamers which allows them to purchase virtual goods and items from more than 2,500 games.

The proposed acquisition will see MOL Global become a wholly owned subsidiary of Razer. The deal is subject to approval from MOL Global shareholders, although Razer said it has already secured support from other major shareholders.

The move comes after Razer announced earlier this month that it will launch its digital game distribution platform in Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore.

The Razer Game Store will be on Lazada’s e-commerce platform. The store will subsequently be launched elsewhere in the region, including in Malaysia and Thailand, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines.

“Southeast Asia represents one of the highest GDP growth regions with one of the youngest demographics in the world,” said Mr Tan.

Citing low credit card penetration in the region, Razer said that MOL’s “unique offline-to-online” payment model, with approximately 1 million offline payment points, makes it the largest virtual credits platform for gamers in the region.

MOL handled more than US$1.1 billion of payments last year through its e-payment network.

Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in Singapore and San Francisco, Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after going public last year.

Its latest push into e-payments comes after last year's offer by Mr Tan to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to roll out a unified e-payments system for Singapore.