Worldline has closed a A$485 million deal to acquire a controlling stake in the commercial acquiring business of ANZ, Australia’s third largest acquirer which commands a 20% share of the market.
The acquisition, which was first announced in December 2020, entails the creation of a 51%-49% joint-venture controlled by Worldline to operate and develop commercial acquiring services in Australia, providing the vendor with an opportunity to expand its business outside of Europe in a highly dynamic market.
Similar to Europe in terms of market structure, payment standards and technology, the Australian payment market has a high level adoption of electronic payments and is ranked #4 globally for payment terminals per capita, with consumer use of contactless cards and digital wallets amongst the highest in the world.
Worldline expects the alliance will grow revenue at a double-digit rate in the coming years through cross and up-sell opportunities in digital onboarding, alternative payment methods and fraud detection across the existing merchant portfolio.
With annual revenue of €180 million, the business runs at an Operating Margin Before Depreciation and Amortization (OMDA) of 20%. Worldline anticipates double-digit organic growth over the next five years with the objective to reach €25 million additional OMDA by 2025.