Equens and Seceti, a subsidiary of the ICBPI Group in Italy, are to establish a joint company under Equens’current holding structure.
The Equens Group will then consist of Equens Nederland, Equens Deutschland and Equens Italia. The intended steps have already been approved by both the Supervisory Board and shareholders. The signing of an agreement should be finalised by mid-2008.
Together, both partners intend to process 8.7 billion payments and switch 3 billion POS and ATM transactions annually. As a result of the combined volumes they will become the largest pan-European processor in Europe with a market share of 12 percent.
“The intended cooperation with Seceti is an important next step forward in our strategy to become one of the leading payment processors in Europe,” says Michael Steinbach, chairman of Equens’ board of directors.
“Europe is a crucial growth area for Seceti and we are committed to developing our business in strategic cooperation with Equens across the entire range of products and services” stated Giovanni De Censi, chairman of the board of ICBPI.
De Censi also claimed that the intended agreement between the two companies is in the best interest of all their shareholders and customers.