Why Worldline’s Ingenico deal moved merchant contracts in three countries

The review distinguished acquiring from terminals

Merchant acquiring is the service through which a merchant accepts card payments. A payment terminal is hardware used at a physical point of sale. The Commission treated national markets as relevant for physical point-of-sale acquiring, citing factors such as domestic technical rules and local support. Source 1

The remedy addressed three national markets

The Commission cleared the takeover on 30 September 2020 subject to commitments covering acquiring activities in Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. Worldline completed the Ingenico tender offer transaction on 28 October. The subsequent remedy sales had a combined 2020 revenue perimeter of about €25 million. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Austria moved to a different buyer

An affiliate of Global Payments bought the Austrian Ingenico point-of-sale acquiring activities operated through PAYONE. Worldline specified that its former SIX Payment Services Austrian customers, transferred to PAYONE in March 2021, were excluded from that sale. Source 3 Source 4

One buyer acquired the other two packages

Axepta BNP Paribas Benelux bought the businesses divested in Belgium and Luxembourg. Worldline’s 2021 registration document records the two buyers completing the required transfers on 1 November 2021, just over a year after the larger transaction closed. Source 3 Source 4 Source 2

Sources

• European Commission decision M.9776, Worldline and Ingenico
• Worldline tender-offer closing statement
• Worldline announcement on the divestiture sale agreements
• Worldline 2021 universal registration document, confirming completion of the sales