Shift4 Explores Tencent and Ant Pacts After Acquiring Global Blue

Payments company Shift4 acquired tax-free shopping provider Global Blue in a deal that represents about $2.5 billion in enterprise value.

Pennsylvania-based Shift4 gets access to Global Blue’s tax refund and currency conversion technology, which allows luxury and premium retailers around the world to offer tax-free shopping, according to a Tuesday (Feb. 19) press release.

In his farewell letter to shareholders, outgoing Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman called the deal the “most significant” in the company’s history, and “one that will transform our ability to win in unified commerce in every major market across the globe.”

The merchants Global Blue serves — Prada and LVMH among them — represent a “more than $500 billion payment cross-sell opportunity,” as well as a geographic footprint to accelerate Shift4’s effort to expand its restaurant, entertainment, hotel and sports offerings to new markets, Isaacman said in the letter.

“As a reminder, our cross-sell funnel expansion is over $800 billion today, and with this transaction, our total cross-sell funnel increases to over $1.4 trillion,” he said in the letter.

As part of the deal, Shift4 is also exploring partnerships with two Global Blue shareholders: Chinese conglomerate Tencent and global fintech platform Ant International, which operates the Alipay+ cross-border mobile payment and digitalization services, according to the release.

“The partnership will build on their existing relationship with Global Blue and explore collaboration with Shift4 on global eCommerce payment products,” the release said. “This will include the distribution of unified gateway service Alipay+, which connects global merchants with 1.6 billion user accounts of over 35 digital payment methods across the world, and Weixin Pay, the most widely used mobile payment service in China, throughout the Shift4 ecosystem, including hospitality and venues.”

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal about the deal, Shift4 President Taylor Lauber said the acquisition will help the company provide more comprehensive payments services.

“It’s a critical component to the shopping experience,” Lauber said about Global Blue, which helps hotels and luxury brands popular with travelers who use different currencies.

The deal comes as Isaacman, who founded Shift4 at 16, is preparing to step down from the company, as he has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead NASA, per the report. Assuming Isaacman is confirmed by the Senate, Lauber will take over as CEO.

The acquisition follows other deals by Shift4 last year. In August, the company announced it was purchasing GiveX, a move it said would expand its customer base and add gift cards and loyalty programs to its range of products.

In June, Shift4 took a majority stake in Vectron Systems, a supplier of point-of-sale systems to the restaurant and hospitality verticals in Europe, and concluded a previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems.