Crédit Agricole and Worldline sign a binding agreement to create a major player in merchant services in France

Following their exclusive negotiations announced last April, the Crédit Agricole group and the Worldline group have specified, in an agreement signed today, the outlines of their partnership project in the merchant payment services sector.

The Boards of Directors of all the entities concerned in each of the two groups have approved the terms of the binding, exclusive agreement, thus marking a new milestone in this partnership project. The transaction is still subject to the approval of regulators and customary authorities.

This unique and innovative alliance would enable the two partners to create a joint venture with the ambition of becoming a major player in payment services in France. It would leverage the high-level technological performance and innovation capabilities of Worldline, combined with the commercial strengths and exceptional knowledge of the French market of Crédit Agricole and its distribution networks.

The operation is being conducted in accordance with the announced schedule. It is expected that the required approvals will be obtained then the joint venture be operational by the end of 2023; which will enable to launch its offers at the beginning of 2024.
 

Contacts 

Investor Relations Worldline

Laurent Marie               
+ 33 7 84 50 18 90     
laurent.marie@worldline.com

Benoit d’Amécourt                   
+ 33 6 75 51 41 47     
benoit.damecourt@worldline.com

Communication Worldline 

Sandrine van der Ghinst         
+ 32 499 585 380               
sandrine.vanderghinst@worldline.com

Hélène Carlander                      
+ 33 7 72 25 96 04     
helene.carlander@worldline.com

Investor Relations Crédit Agricole

Press contacts Crédit Agricole 

Alexandre Barat                               
+ 33 1 57 72 12 19     
alexandre.barat@credit-agricole-sa.fr

Olivier Tassain                                 
+ 33 1 43 23 25 41     
olivier.tassain@credit-agricole-sa.fr

Mathilde Durand                              
+ 33 1 57 72 19 43     
mathilde.durand@credit-agricole-sa.fr

Bénédicte Gouvert                          
+ 33 1 49 53 43 64     
benedicte.gouvert@ca-fnca.fr

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] helps businesses of all shapes and sizes to accelerate their growth journey – quickly, simply, and securely. With advanced payments technology, local expertise and solutions customised for hundreds of markets and industries, Worldline powers the growth of over one million businesses around the world. Worldline generated a 4.4 billion euros revenue in 2022. worldline.com Worldline’s corporate purpose (“raison d’être”) is to design and operate leading digital payment and transactional solutions that enable sustainable economic growth and reinforce trust and security in our societies. Worldline makes them environmentally friendly, widely accessible, and supports social transformation.

About Crédit Agricole Group

The Crédit Agricole Group is the leading partner of the French economy and one of the largest banking groups in Europe. It is the leading retail bank in Europe as well as the first European asset manager, the first bancassurer in Europe and the third European player in project finance. Built on its strong cooperative and mutual roots, its 145,000 employees and the 27,000 directors of its Local and Regional Banks, the Crédit Agricole Group is a responsible and responsive bank serving 53 million customers, 11,5 million mutual shareholders and 800,000 individual shareholders. Thanks to its universal customer-focused retail banking model – based on the cooperation between its retail banks and their r elated business lines –, the Crédit Agricole Group supports its customers’ projects in France and around the world: day-to-day banking, home loans, consumer finance, savings, insurances, asset management, real estate, leasing and factoring, and corporate and investment banking. Crédit Agricole also stands out for its dynamic, innovative corporate social responsibility policy, for the benefit of the economy. This policy is based on a pragmatic approach which permeates across the Group and engages each employee.

Disclaimer Worldline

This document contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including references, concerning the Group's expected growth and profitability in the future which may significantly impact the expected performance indicated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are linked to factors out of the control of the Company and not precisely estimated, such as market conditions or competitors’ behaviors. Any forward-looking statements made in this document are statements about Worldline’s beliefs and expectations and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include statements that may relate to Worldline’s plans, objectives, strategies, goals, future events, future revenues or synergies, or performance, and other information that is not historical information. Actual events or results may differ from those described in this document due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described within the 2021 Universal Registration Document filed with the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) on April 25, 2022 under the filling number: D.22-0342 and its Amendment filed on July 29, 2022 under the filling number: D. 21-0342-A01.

Worldline does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation or responsibility to update or amend any of the information above except as otherwise required by law.

This document is disseminated for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or the securities laws of any U.S. state, or are exempt from registration. The securities that may be offered in any transaction have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or the securities laws of any U.S. state and Worldline does not intend to make a public offering of any such securities in the United States.