Finch capital acquires Wirecard Turkey
Finch Capital through Nomu Pay which is a vehicle for investments in payment assets has announced the acquisition of Wirecard Ödeme Ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri (Wirecard Turkey).
Disgraced payments giant Wirecard is being dismantled since the company filed for bankruptcy in June 2020 after €1.9 billion cash went missing. The operations around the globe were sold part by part. First, Wirecard UK was sold to Railsbank, and then Paynetics acquired Wirecard UK and Ireland assets. Then, later in 2020, Banco Santander acquired Wirecard assets.
According to the press release, Nomu Pay is fully funded by Finch Capital and this acquisition and investment by the company are part of the company’s “larger plan to invest in payments infrastructure in Turkey and the Middle East region”. Further details on strategy and rebranding would be provided by the company on the closing of the acquisition as mentioned in the press note.
The deal is expected to complete by summer 2021 and is currently subject to ‘certain conditions, including regulatory approvals’.
“We see tremendous growth opportunities to further enhance payments for Turkey’s 80 million inhabitants”, said Radboud Vlaar, Managing Partner Finch Capital. Adding further he said, “We continue to actively look for further M&A opportunities in the region to accelerate its growth and development.”
Wirecard Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri was established in Turkey in 2008 and it started its operations in 2009. “In 2014, all the shares of my company were acquired by Wirecard Issuing & Acquiring Gmbh which is a subsidiary of Wirecard AG and has been operating as “Wirecard Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri AŞ” since 2015”. The company was granted e-money licence from the regulator in Turkey in October 2016.
Currently, the company contracts with all three GSM operators, majority of the banks in Turkey and more than 1200 merchants and it provides payment services in three main domains which are Direct Carrier Billing, Credit Card Acquiring and E-money, the press release noted.