Worldline (Euronext: WLN) announced on Friday the completion of the acquisition of a controlling stake in ANZ’s commercial acquiring business.
Further, the European payments giant created a joint venture with ANZ Bank, both holding 51 percent and 49 percent of the stakes, respectively. This entity will be used to operate and develop commercial acquiring services in Australia.
Entering a Major Market
The acquisition by Worldline came as a strategic move by the company to expand its business by entering the Australian market. Moreover, the Australian market has high cash penetration, making it very lucrative for payments companies.
Worldline believes that the move will provide “favorable dynamics, a sizable and growing addressable market and a high level of readiness and receptiveness towards cashless payment methods.”
Headquartered in France, Worldline has made many strategic moves in the past few months both within Europe and internationally to expand its business. It acquired Greek payment network service provider, Cardlink last October and also entered into a strategic collaboration with Eurobank.
The partnership with ANZ Bank, which is the third-largest acquirer in Australia, will also benefit Worldline to expand its merchant acquiring business outside of Europe. It will provide direct access to an existing and high-quality merchants’ portfolio.
“The combination of ANZ’s strong market position and Worldline’s global scale, best-in-class technologies and payment expertise will allow the alliance to grow revenue at a double-digit rate in the coming years,” Worldline stated in the press release.
“This accelerated growth rate will be delivered through cross and up-sell opportunities based on innovative solutions such as digital onboarding, Alternative Payment Methods (APM), fraud detection, online and omnichannel capabilities, while leveraging the existing merchant portfolio.”
