Completion of the acquisition of the 36.4% minority stake in equensWorldline
Bezons — 30 / 09 / 2019
Worldline [Euronext: WLN], European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, today announces the completion of the acquisition of the 36.4% minority stake in equensWorldline.
As a reminder, Worldline exercised on July 24, 2019 its call option on the 36.4% minority stake in equensWorldline, representing the final step of the Equens acquisition initiated in 2016 and allowing taking full ownership of equensWorldline, the leading European payment transaction processor.
The call exercise price is €1,070 million for the remaining 36.4% stake and is financed by a €600 million convertible bond issued on July 25, 2019 and a € 500 million bond issued on September 11, 2019. Thanks to the very attractive terms of these two bond emissions, the overall financing of the acquisition has a negative cost for Worldline.
After an efficient management of the closing process, social process with the employee representative bodies could be completed in a timely manner and regulatory approvals in the Netherlands could be obtained faster than planned, allowing a closing of the transaction ahead of the timing initially contemplated.
I am delighted to announce today the closing of the acquisition of equensWorldline minority interests, achieved even faster than contemplated when we announced the signing end of July. Leveraging a good market momentum, Worldline has benefited from excellent conditions to finance this acquisition, including a negative cost of debt. It allows me to fully confirm the double digit accretion expected on our net income per share as soon as 2020. Last, owning 100% of equensWorldline gives us an enhanced opportunity to set-up new strategic partnerships, notably in our processing business, and enlarge our options for our inorganic development. Following the deconsolidation from Atos after the distribution that occurred earlier this year, Worldline has a now a maximum flexibility for executing its vision and consolidation ambitions.
Eric Heurtaux, Worldline Chief Financial Officer, said.
About Worldline
Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is the European leader in the payment and transactional services industry. With innovation at the core of its DNA, Worldline’s core offerings include Pan-European and domestic Commercial Acquiring for physical or online businesses, secured payment transaction processing for banks and financial institutions, as well as transactional services in e-Ticketing and for local and central public agencies. Thanks to a presence in 30+ countries, Worldline is the payment partner of choice for merchants, banks, public transport operators, government agencies and industrial companies, delivering cutting-edge digital services. Worldline’s activities are organized around three axes: Merchant Services, Financial Services including equensWorldline and Mobility & e-Transactional Services. Worldline employs circa 11,000 people worldwide, with 2018 pro forma revenue of 2.2 billion euros. worldline.com
David Pierre-Kahn
