Worldline to acquire Banco Desio merchant acquiring activities

Worldline to acquire merchant acquiring

activities of Banco Desio

Reinforcement of Worldline presence in the promising Italian market with a strong partner

Paris, La Défense, November 7, 2022 – Worldline [Euronext: WLN], a global leader in payment services, announces the signing of a binding agreement for the acquisition of Banco Desio’s merchant acquiring activities and the planned set-up of a commercial partnership aiming to leverage Banco Desio’s banking network in order to distribute Worldline’s payment products and services to merchant customers of the bank in Italy.

Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, said: "I am very proud to announce the acquisition of Banco Desio’s merchant acquiring activities. This operation is fully in line with our strategy to further expand our Merchant Services activities towards the South of Europe and in particular in Italy, a highly attractive and strategic market for Worldline where we intend to continue leveraging our footprint built last year through the acquisition of Axepta Italy early 2022 and the set-up of the Worldline MS Italy joint venture.

This transaction offers attractive development opportunities for Worldline in the coming years, leveraging a strong banking network as a key commercial channel in order to distribute Worldline’s full suite of end-to-end payment solutions to merchants.

With this transaction, Worldline keeps on playing the leading role in the consolidation of the European payments industry, with a focus on value-creating consolidation opportunities, enhancing Worldline scale, reach and significant presence in a growing number of countries.”

Acquisition of merchant acquiring activities of Banco Desio and set-up of a long-term commercial partnership

Banco Desio Group is an important Italian banking group with a strong local approach delivered through a network of more than 230 branches. The banking group was looking for a partner to acquire, operate and develop its merchant acquiring portfolio which delivers payment solutions to c. 15 thousand merchants generating c. 40 million transactions per year, representing c. € 2.0 billion of MSV. It also manages the marketing and distribution of more than 19 thousand POS to the merchants within the bank’s network.

As part of the transaction, Worldline will enter a long-term commercial partnership with Banco Desio aiming to leverage its strong banking network as a key commercial channel in order to distribute Worldline’s best-in-class payment product and services to merchants.

Reinforcement of Worldline presence in Italy, one of the most attractive payment markets in Europe

Following the acquisition of Axepta Italy early 2022 and the set-up of the Worldline MS Italy joint venture, this transaction is fully in line with Worldline’s strategy to reinforce its presence in Italy, a highly attractive and strategic market for Worldline. The country is the third largest euro economy in Europe with a cash penetration that remains high with cash accounting for close to 76% of total payment volume in 2021¹, a rapid shift from cash to card and electronic payment adoption and by one of the highest POS densities per inhabitants in Europe. 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.

Key items of the transaction

• Worldline to acquire 100% of Banco Desio’s merchant acquiring activities through the Worldline MS Italy joint venture for c. € 100 million
• Additional annual revenue of c. € 15 million in year one with expected double-digit organic growth in the coming years
• OMDA margin expected above 30% at closing
• Expected closing in Q1 2023 after the usual regulatory approvals

Forthcoming event

• February 21, 2023        FY 2022 results
• April 26, 2023                Q1 2023 revenue
• June 8, 2023                Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting
• July 26, 2023                H1 2023 results
• October 25, 2023        Q3 2023 revenue
  
  
  
  

Contacts

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About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is a global leader in the payments industry and the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks and acquirers. Powered by 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Worldline provides its clients with sustainable, trusted and innovative solutions fostering their growth. Services offered by Worldline include instore and online commercial acquiring, highly secure payment transaction processing and numerous digital services. In 2021 Worldline generated a proforma revenue close to 4 billion euros.

Worldline’s corporate 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. Worldline makes them environmentally friendly, widely accessible, and supports 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 2021 Universal Registration Document filed with the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on April 25, 2022 under the filling number: D.22-0342 and its Amendment filed on July 29, 2022 under the filling number: D. 21-0342-A01.

Revenue organic growth and Operating Margin before Depreciation and Amortization (OMDA) improvement are presented at constant scope and exchange rate. OMDA is presented as defined in the 2021 Universal Registration Document. All amounts are presented in € million without decimal. This may in certain circumstances lead to non-material differences between the sum of the figures and the subtotals that appear in the tables. 2022 objectives are expressed at constant scope and exchange rates and according to Group’s accounting standards.

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.

1 source: Politecnico di Milano

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