France's Worldline takes on Banca del Fucino merchant acquiring business

Banco di Desio e della Brianza

05/10/2023 08:06

MILAN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - French payments company
Worldline  WLN.PA  has agreed to buy Banca del Fucino's merchant
acquiring activities and to strike a long-term partnership with
the Italian lender, the two firms said in a joint statement on
Thursday.
    Under the terms of the deal, whose closing is expected
within the next three months, Worldline's Italian unit will pay
25 million euros ($26.3 million) for the business. 
    More than 3,000 shopkeepers for a total of some 5,500 points
of sale relied on Banca del Fucino's merchant acquiring services
last year, for a business volume of about 500 million euros.
    The partnership envisions the French firm's acquiring
services being distributed to clients via the Rome-based bank's
36 branches across the country. 
    With the growing use of e-commerce platforms and smartphones
sparking several takeover deals in the payments sector in recent
years, the agreement with Banca del Fucino is just the latest
deal by Worldline in Italy.
    Last year, it acquired Banco Desio's  DESI.MI  merchant
acquiring activities for about 100 million euros. 
    ($1 = 0.9515 euros)

 (Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Gianluca Semeraro
and Jan Harvey)
 ((Federico.maccioni@thomsonreuters.com; +39 3420768883;))