Today Nets, a giant in the European payments industry, has announced its acquisition of Polskie ePłatności (or PeP), one of Poland’s leaders in payment processing tech. The transaction values PeP’s Enterprise Value at €405 million.
PeP, based in Tajęcina, was founded in 2010 and aims to serve merchants from all branches of the retail industry. As the leader of the non-cash transaction market in Poland, the team specialises in processing non-cash payments and providing innovative services for business, ensuring the handling of payment transactions made with payment cards and other services with the use of POS terminals and on the internet. PeP has over 600 employees, an installed base of more than 125,000 point-of-sales terminals and expects net revenues of around €55 million in 2020.
With this acquisition, Nets will further strengthen its presence in Poland – one of the most attractive geographies in Europe given its double-digit growth in card usage, which is further supported by state initiatives promoting in-store electronic payment solutions.
Bo Nilsson, CEO of the Nets Group, says: “PeP is the fastest growing payment technology company in one of the fastest growing digital payment economies in Europe, and we have been impressed by the PeP-team, their high-quality in-house operation and business performance. This acquisition follows our recent acquisition of Dotpay/eCard and the strategic alliance with Przelewy24, both of which are strong in e-commerce. With PeP’s strength with SME merchants on card acceptance and point-of-sales terminals, this deal has a convincing strategic fit, completing our offering to merchants in Poland.”
Jaroslaw Mikos, CEO of PeP, comments: “We are excited to become part of a leading European player like the Nets Group. It will support our strong growth trajectory by strengthening our offerings across the merchant service value chain. Together, we can use our combined local capabilities and experience for the benefit of our customers.”
Krzysztof Kulig, Senior Partner at Innova Capital, says: “With Nets’ acquisition of PeP, we are proving our ability to build successful companies in the financial services industry. PeP is Innova’s fifth successful transaction in the payment technology space, and during our ownership the company has grown extremely fast, becoming a leading Polish merchant acquirer. We believe that PeP will realise its significant potential in this dynamic industry as part of the Nets Group.”
We recently profiled 10 promising startups in Poland, which are likely to hit the news in 2020. Take a look at our predictions to dive deeper into the Polish ecosystem.