Global Payments Inc. GPN acquired Irish online payment technology firm Realex Payments, for €115 million ($125.9 million). This move comes as part of the company’s efforts to strengthen its foothold in Europe and provide omni-channel solutions to customers.
Ranking among Europe’s biggest and fastest-growing payment gateways, Realex provides a broad range of web solutions and technology services for online businesses. Set up in 2000, Realex offers technology that enables online companies to accept payments from customers, a process known as merchant processing.
Furthermore, Realex Payments offers enhanced analytics, real-time fraud-scoring, recurring payments and foreign exchange services, like dynamic currency conversion and multi-currency processing.
Realex boasts an impressive clientele, featuring companies like Vodafone, Aer Lingus, Paddy Power and Virgin Atlantic. The firm processes payments worth over €28 billion ($30.7 billion) annually for 12,500 retailers throughout Europe.
Realex and Global Payments have collaborated for the past three years, mostly in the U.K. region – a market that accounts for a large part of Realex’s turnover. Realex, capitalizing on the success of the partnership, has successfully positioned itself as one of the fastest-growing online payments businesses in Europe.
This transaction will enable Realex’s existing clients to leverage Global Payments’ unmatched international presence, explore new markets and drive growth in their e-commerce business.
The deal is a part of Global Payments’ strategy to expand its international omni-channel technology offerings, thereby uniting gateway services, payment service provisioning and merchant acquiring across Europe. The acquisition will drive growth for Global Payments, allowing it to further leverage its global footprint and unlock new opportunities at a favorable time in Europe.
The acquisition was funded using available liquidity, and it is not expected to materially impact the company's fiscal 2015 results or capital plans.
Global Payments presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the financial transaction services industry include Fiserv, Inc. FISV, Ingenico S.A. INGIY and The Western Union Company WU, each holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Note: €1 = $1.0947
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