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.

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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Lucy Ingham

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Lucy is Head of Content & Editor-in-Chief at FXC Intelligence, overseeing all content and taking deep dives into the trends and data driving changes in payments. Before joining FXC Intelligence, Lucy worked as a technology journalist and editor, interviewing CEOs and major names across enterprise technology, including fintech. She has an MSc in Development Anthropology from Durham University.