Worldline signs agreement to acquire 80% of Axepta Italy

By Megha Bhattacharya

Worldline today announced the signing of a binding agreement for the acquisition of 80% of Axepta Italy, the merchant acquiring entity of BNL banking group in Italy. As part of the transaction, Worldline will enter into a long-term commercial partnership with BNL aiming to leverage its strong banking network as a key commercial channel in order to distribute Worldline’s and Axepta Italy’s payment product and services.

Gilles Grapinet, Worldline’s Chairman and CEO, said: “The partnership with BNL through the acquisition of 80% of Axepta Italy is a further significant development in our Group consolidation strategy in Europe, extending our Merchant Services activities towards the South of Europe. Thanks to this transaction, we indeed benefit from a direct access to an existing merchants’ portfolio in the fast-growing Italian market, driven by the steady ongoing adoption of electronic payments. This transaction offers attractive growth opportunities for Worldline in the coming years and a strong footprint to further expand our Merchant Services activities in Italy.

As the European leader in payments, we keep executing our strategic roadmap with a focus on value-creative consolidation opportunities to enhance Worldline scale, reach and direct presence in a growing number of countries in close partnership with leading local banks.”

Marco Tarantola, BNL’s Deputy General Manager, said: “Through this partnership, BNL aims to pursue its specialization’s journey in payment solutions initiated during the last years with Axepta, after having acquired in 2016 100% of the JV, BNL positivity created in the past with another player. The Worldline’s footprint as well as its expertise ensures a high standard of service level, quality and performance of its payment solutions. This will allow us to propose to our customers a broad range of products, services and payment solutions, permanently in evolution thanks to innovation and new technologies’ best use.“