Thunes, a Singapore-based cross-border payments company, announced Tuesday it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tilia LLC, a United States-based all-in-one payments platform for gaming, to accelerate its growth in the US and its presence in the fast-expanding online gaming market.

Thunes said in a statement that Tilia is licensed in 48 US states and territories and offers payment solutions (acceptance and pay-outs) for online games, virtual worlds, creator economies, and in-app purchases.

Upon closing of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, Thunes’ bespoke global network to accept and pay in real-time through four billion bank accounts, three billion digital wallets and 550 alternative payment methods (APMs) will become available to merchants across the US, including current Tilia customers.

Using Tilia’s technology, Thunes said it will be able to offer Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and UnionPay acceptance to Thunes’ customers.

As part of the transaction, Thunes and Linden Research, Inc. (Linden Lab), the current majority owner of Tilia, have agreed to an exclusive five-year partnership in which, post closing, Thunes will provide payment processing and pay-outs to Linden Lab, leveraging Thunes’ global network – allowing gamers to pay, and to receive money real-time, in a more cost-efficient way and with increased transparency.

“The acquisition of Tilia demonstrates our ambition in the United States,” said Floris de Kort, Chief Executive Officer of Thunes.

“This investment will enable us to leverage Tilia’s capabilities to provide merchants with direct money movement solutions in and out of the United States,

“Furthermore, Tilia’s deep expertise in online gaming, virtual worlds and token-based payments will greatly accelerate our growth into that fast-growing, exciting industry,” he added.

Brad Oberwager, Chief Executive Officer of Linden Lab, said that Thunes is an exceptional company that directly connects nearly every payment method and market worldwide.

“The combination of Tilia and Thunes will give Linden Lab’s customers more payment choices, and the ability to receive pay-outs in real time, anywhere, into the wallet or bank account of their choice,

“It will be business as usual for our people and our customers as we bring Tilia and Thunes together,” he added.

Subject to regulatory approval, after the acquisition closes, Tilia will be rebranded as Thunes and will remain based in San Francisco.

Thunes currently facilitates payments in 84 currencies across 133 countries, using over 550 payment methods, including 129 mobile wallets like PayPal, M Pesa and Orange Money, gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo and super-apps like Grab and WeChat.

Headquartered in Singapore, the firm has offices in 14 locations, including Beijing, Nairobi, Riyadh, Dubai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Barcelona and Manila.

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