Euronet Worldwide To Purchase Piraeus Bank's Merchant Acquiring Business For $360M

Euronet Worldwide Inc EEFT inked an agreement to acquire the Piraeus Bank Merchant Acquiring business of Greece’s Piraeus Bank.

• The transaction also involves a separately negotiated commercial agreement for a long-term strategic partnership with Piraeus Bank for collaborative product distribution, processing, and customer referrals. 
• The agreement was the latest in a series of partnership arrangements with Piraeus Bank dating back to the early 2000s. Euronet would act as Piraeus Bank’s exclusive long-term partner to provide merchant acquiring services to Piraeus Bank customers under the arrangement.
• Euronet would pay $360 million (€300 million) for the segment’s acquiring services and assets that included 205,000 POS terminals at 170,000 merchants throughout Greece and the bank’s online merchant acquiring business. The in-store acquiring business represented 20% of Greece’s market, while the bank’s online merchant acquiring represented 40% of online and digital transactions in the country.
• Euronet would collaborate with Piraeus Bank to make a wide range of advanced technologically enabled products and services accessible. At the same time, Piraeus Bank would continue promoting and distributing the acquiring products through its extended sales channels, including its customer service centers, marketing campaigns, and 500 branches throughout Greece.
• Euronet was already the bank’s card issuing and merchant acquiring services provider since acquiring the bank’s card issuing and merchant acquiring processing services in 2005.
• Euronet would extend its REN Ecosystem platform to the Greek market for enhanced cash-based and digital payment solutions directly to customers and third-party businesses like banks, fintech, and retailers.
• Euronet’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to $1.4 billion as of December 31, 2020.
• Price action: EEFT shares traded lower by 2.91% at $153.95 on the last check Tuesday.