Worldline Signs Acquisition Deal With Eurobank Merchant Acquiring

European payments and transaction platform Worldline on Tuesday (Dec. 7) acquired 80% of Eurobank Merchant Acquiring, which has a 20% market share of the Greek acquisition market, according to the joint announcement. 

“This operation is fully in line with our strategy to further expand our Merchant Services activities towards the south of Europe, and at the same time allows us to leverage our footprint in Greece that was established earlier this year through the acquisition of Cardlink,” said Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline. 

“The combination of both companies will create a meaningful, comprehensive and leading position in the fast-growing Greek market that is driven by a steady ongoing adoption of electronic payments,” he said. “This transaction offers attractive development opportunities for Worldline in the coming years, building on our direct access to an existing merchant’s portfolio with a full suite of end-to-end payment solutions.” 

The acquisition allows Worldline to continue in its quest to build “the Europe of payments beyond its existing borders, with a focus on value-creating consolidation opportunities, enhancing Worldline scale, reach and direct presence in a growing number of countries,” said Grapinet. 

“The agreement we reached with Worldline regarding the cards acquiring business is fully in line with our strategic plan to focus on our core activities, while further strengthening our capital base,” said Fokion Karavias, CEO of Eurobank, in the joint announcement. 

“Our clients will benefit from a prime customer experience in a secure transaction environment, provided by a world leader in payment services with the global reach and the cutting-edge digital capabilities required in a fast-moving, tech-driven sector,” he said. 

Eurobank has about 300 branches across Greece. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary condition precedent. 

Related: Partnership Lets Worldline Clients Access Volt Payments Gateway 

In October, Wordline partnered with open payments gateway Volt to give more than 600 enterprise-level merchants access to Volt’s infrastructure. Worldline customers will be able to launch their own branded payment methods through the partnership. 

Earlier this year, Worldline launched WL Account-Based Payments, an open banking account-to-account (A2A) payment program that lets third parties access consumer banking information and includes custom branding and instant settlement notifications.