Worldline signs a strategic partnership with BNL in merchant
acquiring in Italy
Worldline signs
a strategic partnership with
BNLin merchant acquiring
in Italy
- Creation of a joint venture
with BNL banking group through
the acquisition of 80% of Axepta
Italy based on a € 220 million enterprise
value
- Commercial
partnership aiming to leverage BNL’s banking
network in order to distribute Worldline’s payment products and
services to customers of the bank.
- Strategic
opportunity to expand Worldline’s
Merchant Services activities
in the very promising
Italian market
- Axepta in
Italy, a significant
bank acquirer in
the country, has
strong positions
with:
- c.
200 million acquiring
transactions per year
from c.
220,000 POS
- c.
30,000 merchants
portfolio with more than 60% being
SMBs
- High
growth and synergies
potential, by combining Axepta
Italy existing presence
with Worldline’ scale and best in class
offerings
Bezons,
July
1st,
2021 – Worldline
[Euronext: WLN], a
global leader in the payments industry,
today announced the signing
of a
binding
agreement for the acquisition of
80% of Axepta
Italy, the merchant acquiring entity
of BNL banking group
in Italy.
Gilles
Grapinet, Worldline’s Chairman and
CEO, said: “The partnership with BNL through the
acquisition of 80% of Axepta Italy is a further significant
development in our Group consolidation strategy in Europe,
extending our Merchant Services activities towards the South of
Europe. Thanks to this transaction, we indeed benefit from a direct
access to an existing merchants’ portfolio in the fast-growing
Italian market, driven by the steady ongoing adoption of electronic
payments. This transaction offers attractive growth opportunities
for Worldline in the coming years and a strong footprint to further
expand our Merchant Services activities in Italy.
We are extremely happy to welcome soon more than
100 new Worldline’s colleagues, managers, and payment experts and
to work hand in hand with BNL to further jointly accelerate the
development of the business of our joint venture in Italy.
As the European leader in payments, we keep
executing our strategic roadmap with a focus on value-creative
consolidation opportunities to enhance Worldline scale, reach and
direct presence in a growing number of countries in close
partnership with leading local banks.”
Marco
Tarantola,
BNL’s Deputy General
Manager, said: “Through this partnership, BNL aims to
pursue its specialization’s journey in payment solutions initiated
during the last years with Axepta, after having acquired in 2016
100% of the JV, BNL positivity created in the past with another
player. The Worldline’s footprint as well as its expertise ensures
a high standard of service level, quality and performance of its
payment solutions. This will allow us to propose to our customers a
broad range of products, services and payment solutions,
permanently in evolution thanks to innovation and new technologies’
best use.“
Italy: one of the most attractive
payment markets in Europe
Italy is a highly attractive and strategic
market for Worldline. The country is the third largest euro
economies in Europe with a cash penetration that remains high with
cash accounted for close to 78% of total payment volume in
2020.
The Italian payment market shows attractive
growth opportunities driven by the shift from cash to card and
electronic payment adoption, supported by a solid acceptance
network and one of the highest POS density per habitants in Europe
as well as recent initiatives to push payment card usage and strong
growth for e-Commerce, in particular during the peak of Covid-19.
Transactions acquired are well balanced by card type (Credit cards,
PagoBancomat, and Debit & Prepaid).
As an additional very compelling characteristic,
Luxury and Retail market is one of the most important sectors of
the Italian economy and a key pillar of its economic growth. In
addition, with close to 100 million tourists per year, Italy is one
of the most visited countries in Europe and in the world. This
represents a very attractive feature of the Italian payment market
offering numerous additional growth opportunities in a post-Covid
context by leveraging the very rich Worldline portfolio of Luxury
& Retail and Travel & Hospitality solutions.
Acquisition of Axepta Italy, the
merchant acquiring entity of BNL in Italy and a significant
stand-alone bank acquirer in Italy based on a long-term commercial
partnership
Founded in 2006, Axepta Italy is the merchant
acquiring entity of BNL in Italy and one of the large bank-owned
acquirers in the country. It acquires c. 200 million acquiring
transactions per year (c. 5% market share in MSV) from a c. 220,000
POS acceptance network.
Lead by Stefano Calderano, the Axepta CEO, and
an experienced management team committed to continue, Axepta
employs more than 100 employees. It provides international payment
solutions for all channels (online, mobile or in-store payment
solutions) and serves c. 30,000 merchants of which more than 60%
being SMBs and close to 30% being large corporates. Overall, Axepta
Italy merchant’s portfolio is highly diversified and presents a
very low attrition rate.
As part of the transaction, Worldline will enter
in a long-term commercial partnership with BNL aiming to leverage
its strong banking network as a key commercial channel in order to
distribute Worldline’s and Axepta Italy best-in-class payment
product and services.
In the continuity of Worldline’s existing
partnerships with more than 17 banks and banking federations
(regrouping c. 100 adherents) in Italy, such a strategic alliance
is another proof point of Worldline’s bank-friendly Merchant
Services expertise, aiming at strong value creation for partnering
financial institutions. The joint venture is designed to be an open
vehicle for welcoming existing partners and other Italian banks
willing to benefit from delivery and servicing excellence, combined
with scale and competitive cost structure.
Strategic rationale
In the rapidly changing industry, driven by the
customers’ adoption of numerous and innovative payment methods,
Axepta Italy and the partnership with BNL are the ideal cornerstone
to accelerate Worldline’s go-to-market in the country by deploying
the Group’s payment offering and value-added services capabilities
in order to provide the best-in-class customer proposition and user
experience across all segments in Italy.
This partnership represents an opportunity for
Worldline to strongly expand its Merchant Services activities in
this attractive European market with an existing and high-quality
merchants’ portfolio, while generating significant growth
opportunities fueled by increasing card penetration and online
capabilities, allowing the entity to grow revenue at a double-digit
rate in the coming years. This accelerated growth rate will be
delivered through, in particular, the roll-out of Worldline SMB
offerings, the expansion of its local acquiring capabilities to
provide a comprehensive European footprint for large international
and national customers, and the deployment of strong e-commerce and
omnichannel solutions.
Furthermore, a robust integration and
development program will be implemented at closing to further
improve profitability rate through operating leverage and costs
efficiency.
Impacts of the transaction on
Worldline
The key financial impacts of the transaction on
Worldline are the following:
- Additional annual revenue of c. €
50 million at closing with expected double-digit organic growth
CAGR over the next 4 years;
- OMDA margin of mid-to-high teens
expected at closing, aiming to catch-up with Worldline’s Merchant
Services profitability, fueled by operating leverage and expected
cost and revenue synergies of c. € 15 million by
2025;
- Estimated cash-out of c. € 180
million at closing (for 80% ownership), preserving Worldline’s
financial flexibility;
- BNL to retain a 20% ownership in
Axepta Italy, and;
- Closing expected end of 2021 or
beginning 2022, subjected to satisfaction of customary condition
precedent.
Forthcoming events
- July 27,
2021 H1
2021 results
- October 19,
2021 Q3 2021
revenue
Contacts
Investor Relations
Laurent Marie+33 7 84 50 18
90laurent.marie@ingenico.com
Benoit d’Amécourt+33 6 75 51 41
47benoit.damecourt@worldline.com
Communication
Sandrine van der Ghinst+32 499 585
380sandrine.vanderghinst@worldline.com
Hélène Carlander+33 7 72 25 96
04helene.carlander@worldline.com
About Worldline
Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is the European leader
in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player
worldwide. With its global reach and its commitment to innovation,
Worldline is the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks
and third-party acquirers as well as public transport operators,
government agencies and industrial companies in all sectors.
Powered by over 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries,
Worldline provides its clients with sustainable, trusted and secure
solutions across the payment value chain, fostering their business
growth wherever they are. Services offered by Worldline in the
areas of Merchant Services; Terminals, Solutions & Services;
Financial Services and Mobility & e-Transactional Services
include domestic and cross-border commercial acquiring, both
in-store and online, highly-secure payment transaction processing,
a broad portfolio of payment terminals as well as e-ticketing and
digital services in the industrial environment. In 2020 Worldline
generated a proforma revenue of 4.8 billion euros.
worldline.com
Worldline’s corporate sense of purpose (“raison
d’être”) is to design and operate leading digital payment and
transactional solutions that enable sustainable economic growth and
reinforce trust and security in our societies. We make them
environmentally friendly, widely accessible and support social
transformation.
Disclaimer
This document contains forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including
references, concerning the Group's expected growth and
profitability in the future which may significantly impact the
expected performance indicated in the forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties are linked to factors out of the
control of the Company and not precisely estimated, such as market
conditions or competitors’ behaviors. Any forward-looking
statements made in this document are statements about Worldline’s
beliefs and expectations and should be evaluated as such.
Forward-looking statements include statements that may relate to
Worldline’s plans, objectives, strategies, goals, future events,
future revenues or synergies, or performance, and other information
that is not historical information. Actual events or results may
differ from those described in this document due to a number of
risks and uncertainties that are described within the 2020
Universal Registration Document filed with the Autorité des marchés
financiers (AMF) on April 13, 2021 under the filling number:
D.21-0303.
Worldline does not undertake, and specifically
disclaims, any obligation or responsibility to update or amend any
of the information above except as otherwise required by law.
This document is disseminated for information
purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase, or a
solicitation of an offer to sell, any securities in the United
States or any other jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered or
sold in the United States unless they have been registered under
the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities
Act”) or the securities laws of any U.S. state, or are exempt from
registration. The securities that may be offered in any transaction
have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities
Act or the securities laws of any U.S. state and Worldline does not
intend to make a public offering of any such securities in the
United States.
- Worldline signs a strategic partnership with BNL in merchant
acquiring in Italy
Worldline (EU:WLN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Feb 2024 bis Mär 2024
Worldline (EU:WLN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Mär 2023 bis Mär 2024