Worldline’s $8.7 billion Ingenico deal to create European payments leader
Worldline, in which Atos still has a 16.9% equity stake, said the deal would give it access to Ingenico’s strong presence in the travel, health and retail sectors, while the combined company would have a bigger geographic reach and an extended partnership with German savings banks.
Creating a European champion able to compete with bigger American rivals could also be welcomed by European politicians, with Europe’s antitrust chief having voiced concerns over Apple Pay.
“The local tie up by Ingenico and Worldline makes sense so instead of competing with each other in their domestic space the combined company can focus on bigger fish to fry,” said MB Capital managing director Marcus Bullus.
“I don’t see there being any anti-trust issues in what should be quite a clean streamlined deal that will create added value for shareholders of the combined company,” he added.
