Nets and Concardis to merge

Nordic payments processor Nets and German-based merchant service provider Concardis are to merge in the latest in a series of transactions in a rapidly consolidating market.

The transaction is a merger structured as a share exchange which will see Concardis' private equity shareholders contribute their shares in return for Nets shares. 

Both Nets and Concardis were only recently taken over by private equity groups. Nets shareholders struck a $5.3 billion deal with Hellman & Friedman in September last year, while Concardis was valued at EUR700 million in a January transaction with Bain and Advent.

In a marketplace caracterised by a move to industrial scale processing, the merger creates a business with approximately €500 million of Ebitda and €1.3 billion of net revenue. 

The deal follows hard on the heels of last month's takeover of SIX Payment Services by Worldline.

Bo Nilsson, who will lead the combined group as CEO, says: "We want to shape the ongoing consolidation in the European payments industry and further drive our pan-European expansion. 

"Germany offers attractive growth potential due to market size, consumer spending and the fact that around 75% of all payment transactions are still cash-based. This merger with Concardis Group enables us to increase our exposure to the German-speaking part of Europe which, in addition to being a high-growth area, is an ideal springboard for the rest of Europe.”