Danish payments, cards and information services group Nets has acquired Finland’s largest payment card services provider, Luottokunta. This deal that makes it the second-largest European market player based on the volume of annual payment card transactions completed.
Nets said that Luottokunta has 500 employees and a turnover in 2011 of Danish kroner (DKK) 840m. Nets is paying €170m for the company, and the acquisition gives it a total of 2,700 employees and annual turnover of DKK6.4bn.
Under the deal Luottokunta will change its name and become a fully-integrated part of Nets, but its offices will remain in Helsinki. Heikki Kapanen will continue as senior country executive for Finland and head of the merchant solutions business unit, offering, for example, payment terminals and payment solutions for electronic commerce (e-commerce) and mobile commerce (m-commerce).
“The market for payment services is becoming increasingly international, and this makes new demands on Nets,” said Nets’ chief executive officer (CEO), Mette Kamsvåg. “To enable Nets to remain competitive, to provide the best possible services to our Nordic customers, to be a value-creating business partner and to have the capacity and skills to accompany our customers into the rest of the world, it’s vital that we have the added strength and volume that the acquisition of Luottokunta brings. At the same time, the acquisition secures Nets a strong position in Finland, which is a natural part of Nets’ domestic market.”