DLA Piper advises Worldline on the acquisition of the card-acquiring activities of the Swedish Group Handelsbanken in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland)

DLA Piper has advised Worldline, a French group and European leader in the payment and transactional services sector for clients ranging from merchants to governmental associations, in the acquisition of the card-acquiring activity of the Swedish group Handelsbanken in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

The activity covers more than 550,000 transactions per year in Scandinavia, a payment volume of approximately EUR20 billion, annual revenues of approximately EUR35 million and an EBITDA percentage of more than 30%.

The transaction is expected to result in additional annual revenue of approximately EUR35 million (USD41 million) and double-digit organic growth over the next four years.

Completion of the transaction is contingent on the satisfaction of certain customary notification procedures and is expected to take place during 2021.

The DLA Piper team advising Worldline was led by Paris-based Partner Jeremy Scemama with senior associate Laurent Asquin, and Stockholm based Partner Anna Berntorp.

They were assisted by a team from the firm’s offices in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland which included:

DLA Piper Sweden:

Corporate: Anna Berntorp (Partner)

Tax: Erik Björkeson (Partner), Louise Vidlund (Associate)

Intellectual Property & Technology: Anna Jussil Broms (Partner)

Regulatory: Alf-Peter Svensson (Partner)

DLA Piper Finland:

Corporate: Petri Morelius (Partner), Josefin Strömberg (Senior Associate)

DLA Piper Norway:

Corporate: Sveninung Mjaugedal and Camilla Wollan (Partners), Anniken Sjovold (Associate)

DLA Piper Denmark:

Corporate: Martin Christian Kruhl (Partner), Patrick Krintel Johansen (Associate)

The Worldline team included Charles-Henri de Taffin, Group General Counsel; Benjamin Thorez, Group Head of Corporate Affairs and Legal M&A; Xavier Faurie, Group Head of Legal M&A.