Mastercard has signed an agreement to acquire some businesses of Denmark-based payments group Nets for €2.85bn ($3.19bn).
The scope of acquisition includes clearing and instant payment services, and e-billing solutions of Nets’ Corporate Services business.
Mastercard’s Nets acquisition: Details
The move is a part of Mastercard’s strategy to further bolster its footprint in the global real-time payments sector.
It will strengthen Mastercard Send and Transfast technologies that deliver cross-border payments to bank accounts, mobile wallets and cards.
Additionally, the deal will strengthen Mastercard’s existing account-to-account (A2A) capabilities with its expertise extending to continental Europe.
Mastercard chief product and innovation officer Michael Miebach said: “The global opportunity for real-time payments is accelerating.
“This deal strengthens our unique position as the one-stop partner for any bank, merchant or government’s payment needs.”
Nets’ Corporate Services business includes offering managed services and software license models to several European markets.
The business also operates a bill pay service in Norway and Denmark.
Nets Group CEO Bo Nilsson said: “With its resources and global reach, Mastercard is uniquely positioned to unlock the potential of Nets’ account-to-account business.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020, subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions.
Recently, Mastercard completed the acquisition of Transfast, a US-based cross-border payments company.
The American payment major’s portfolio also includes Vocalink and Transactis, both of which it acquired in the recent years.
