Nets Expands Poland Presence With PeP Acquisition

Denmark payments startup Nets said on Thursday (March 12) that it has acquired Polish merchant acquirer Polskie ePłatności (PeP).

PeP, valued at €405 million, has over 125,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals and is among the top five largest card payment processors in Poland, its website says.

The acquisition expands Nets’ penetration of the Polish marketplace. Poland is a sought-after locale due to the “low card penetration and double-digit growth in card usage.” The country is trying to increase the usage of cards over cash, and has been distributing signs in stores to promote electronic payments.

“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,” said Bo Nilsson, CEO of the Nets Group.

“This acquisition follows our recent acquisition of Dotpay/eCard and the strategic alliance with Przelewy24, both of which are strong in eCommerce,” Nets stated in the release. “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.”

PeP has a workforce of 600 and is anticipating that its net revenue will be €55 million this year. It has been involved in the Cashless Poland initiative. Cash is still popular in the country and accounted for 58.3 percent of payments in 2018.

“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,” said Jaroslaw Mikos, CEO of PeP.

The deal is expected to be finalized by Q3 of this year, following approval.

“With Nets’ acquisition of PeP, we are proving our ability to build successful companies in the financial services industry,” noted Krzysztof Kulig, senior partner at Innova Capital. “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 realize its significant potential in this dynamic industry as part of the Nets Group.”