Worldline to Acquire Digital River World Payments

Atos announces that its subsidiary Worldline has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Digital River World Payments (DRWP), a online global payment service provider from Digital River, Inc., a leading global provider of Commerce-as-a-Service solutions.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, DRWP is a subsidiary of Digital River and employs approximately 120 employees worldwide. With global payment gateway, multi-acquiring and collecting services under one roof and having generated yearly gross revenue of c. € 37 million in 2016, DRWP delivers comprehensive online payment acceptance and optimization solutions for leading enterprise brands, spanning a variety of industries, including travel, retail, direct selling and digital goods. DRWP’s global platform and large geographical footprint support international payment schemes and currencies across 175 countries, a wide range of local payment brands and methods, and more than 40 acquiring bank connections.

Transaction benefits for Worldline and value creation

This acquisition presents an important milestone in the execution of the Worldline’s strategy in Merchant Services, as it will significantly expand its geographical reach and capabilities to address global merchants’ needs.

Worldline intends to leverage the experienced and recognized management of DRWP as well as strong complementary technologies and a shared commitment to service between the two companies. The combined product functionality, geographic reach and customer base is expected to deliver the following benefits:

This combination will leverage DRWP’s product functionalities in the 22 countries where the Worldline operates, driving substantial revenue and technological synergies, and will allow Worldline to obtain its first operational positions in Sweden, the U.S. and Brazil. Equally, the development of DRWP will leverage the commercial cooperation framework existing between Worldline and its parent Atos.

Atos, through Worldline, will access a high quality client base, consisting of leading internet merchants and brands. In addition, Digital River, Inc. will continue as an important strategic relationship for DRWP, as the parties will enter into a five-year commercial agreement upon closing.

Worldline’s clients will benefit from connectivity with numerous acquiring partners worldwide and from a very large range of local and international payment methods through global contract and collection of funds.
Worldline expects to accelerate revenue growth of its Merchant Services division by combining DRWP’s deep expertise and state of the art platform in online technology solutions to create a distinctive set of solutions and distribution.

Last, through this transaction, Worldline will significantly accelerate the development roadmap of its SIPS gateway, notably by integrating multi-acquiring and collecting functionalities, and expects material capital expenditure synergies. Worldline will integrate DRWP in its Merchant Services Global Business Line.

Timing of the transaction

The transaction is expected to close on or before the end of the third quarter of 2017. The transaction is subject to work councils’ information and consultation processes in Atos and Worldline, as well as regulatory and antitrust authorities’ approvals, and other customary closing conditions.