SIA Acquires Card Processing Businesses in Central and Southeastern Europe from First Data
25 May 2018 - 5:40AM
Business Wire
The acquisition encompasses the management
of 13.3 million payment cards, 1.4 billion transactions, POS
terminals and ATMs
SIA, a European high-tech leader in payment infrastructure and
services, and First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC), a global leader
in commerce-enabling technology, have signed an agreement for SIA
to acquire First Data’s card processing businesses in parts of
Central and Southeastern Europe for €375 million. In 2017, these
businesses generated a combined revenue of approximately €100
million for First Data.
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This acquisition by SIA provides card processing, card
production, call center and back-office services, including 13.3
million payment cards, 1.4 billion transactions, in addition to the
management of POS terminals and ATMs. These businesses are
primarily located in 7 countries: Greece, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
First Data remains highly committed to the European issuer
processing business, maintaining its focus on serving its
significant client base, primarily with its leading VisionPLUS
platform.
As a result of the transaction, SIA will become a leading player
in processing and services in the region. The agreement includes
the transfer of about 1,400 First Data employees into SIA.
“This acquisition is in line with our strategy to become the
leading European independent digital payments platform. SIA is
further strengthening its position in the e-payments international
market, increasing its market shares in e-money high-growth
countries,” said Massimo Arrighetti, CEO of SIA.
“This transaction aligns with our focus on portfolio management.
While these are solid businesses, aspects of their operations are
no longer core to our strategy, and this sale allows us to deploy
the proceeds to create value in line with our capital allocation
priorities,” said Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO of First Data.
“We believe we have found an excellent partner for this transaction
as SIA’s integrated payment infrastructure and service offerings
and presence across Europe make it the perfect home for these
businesses and puts our former customers in capable hands.”
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 and
is subject to normal closing conditions.
Deutsche Bank and K&L Gates were respectively financial
advisors and counsel to First Data on the transaction.
HSBC acted as financial advisor to SIA, White & Case as
legal advisor and PWC as tax and accounting due diligence
advisor.
About First DataFirst Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader
in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, serving
approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial
institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. The
company’s 22,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping
companies, from start-ups to the world’s largest corporations,
conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than
3,000 transactions per second and $2.4 trillion per year.
About SIASIA is European leader in the design, creation
and management of technology infrastructures and services for
Financial Institutions, Central Banks, Corporates and the Public
Sector, in the areas of payments, cards, network services and
capital markets. SIA Group provides its services in 48 countries,
and also operates through its subsidiaries in Austria, Germany,
Romania, Hungary and South Africa. The company also has branches in
Belgium and the Netherlands, and representation offices in the UK
and Poland.
In 2017, SIA managed 13.1 billion clearing transactions, 6.1
billion card transactions, 3.3 billion payments, 56.2 billion
financial transactions and carried 784 terabytes of data on the
network.
The Group is made up of eight companies: the parent SIA, the
Italian companies Emmecom (innovative network applications),
P4cards (card processing), SIApay (advanced collection and payment
services) and Ubiq (innovative technology solutions for marketing),
Perago in South Africa, PforCards in Austria and SIA Central Europe
in Hungary.
The Group, which currently has over 2,000 employees, closed 2017
with revenues of €567.2 million.
For more information, go to www.sia.eu/en.
Safe HarborStatements in this press release regarding
First Data Corporation’s business which are not historical facts
are “forward-looking statements.” All forward-looking statements
are inherently uncertain as they are based on various expectations
and assumptions concerning future events and they are subject to
numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual events or results to differ materially from those
projected including the parties’ ability to successfully satisfy
the normal closing conditions.
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SIAFilippo FantasiaHead of Media CoordinationPhone: +39
02.6084.2833Mobile: +39 335.1202713Email:
filippo.fantasia@sia.euValentina PianaMedia CoordinationPhone: +39
02.6084.2334Mobile: +39 342.0467761Email:
valentina.piana@sia.eu@SIA_pressofficeFirst DataPeter
PoillonInvestor RelationsPhone: +1 212 266 3565Email:
peter.poillon@firstdata.comMia ShernoffPublic RelationsPhone: +1
212 515 0225Email: mediarelations@firstdata.com
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