France’s Worldline To Buy Digital River World Payments

Merger

Worldline has reportedly agreed to purchase Swedish Digital River World Payments. The French payments company has not disclosed what it will pay for Digital River World Payments, which grossed around $42.3 million in 2016.

The Digital River World Payments acquisition is the second major piece of global payments M&A activity since Vantiv’s announced acquisition of Worldpay early this month.

“With the acquisition of DRWP, we are accelerating the execution of our strategy in Merchant Services and significantly increasing both our internet payment capabilities and our global reach to support international merchants and large retailers,” Worldline Chief Executive Gilles Grapinet said in a statement.

Payments firms have become an attractive takeover target — particularly for card companies and banks — as the economy is switching from a cards-and-cash based into a more digital payments paradigm.