Concardis, the German payments group, is about to receive final bids from buyout groups, which could give the company a value of more than $636 million.
Reuters, citing people close to the matter, reported CVC, Bridgepoint and Advent/Bain are gearing up to hand in offers for Concardis, which is jointly owned by several German banks. The report noted Wirecard, which was seen as a strategic suitor, dropped out of the running for Concardis.
According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank is Concardis’ largest shareholder with a 16 percent stake, while Commerzbank, Unicredit and savings banks and cooperative banks own smaller stakes in the company, which offers card payment terminals and payment technology for online merchants. The service isn’t viewed as a core business by its bank owners, noted the report. The report noted Concardis is hoping a new owner will spend more money in technology and expand the company’s footprint, which is mainly in Germany at this point. Concardis had core earnings of €33.9 million and net profit of €24.2 million on sales of €480 million last year, noted the report, adding Concardis expects core earnings to increase 7 percent in 2016.
The report went on to note that private equity groups have been interested in payment companies, with PE firms making investments in Worldpay, Nets and ICBPI. The investments were to develop and strengthen those companies’ businesses. More buyout deals are expected to happen in the payment sector, noted Reuters. Reuters pointed to Heidelberger Payment of Germany, which is also on the sale block, while B+S Card Service is on the hunt for an investor.
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