Dublin payments provider sells Swedish unit to focus elsewhere

Dublin-based electronic payments solutions provider Payzone has sold its Swedish unit for an undisclosed sum, with management saying it will focus on other markets.

The company provides a variety of payment technology solutions, such as ATMs, credit/debit card terminals, and mobile phone top-up machines.

It has sold the Payzone Nordic business, which it created in 1989, to Nets, a Danish-headquartered, pan-Nordic payment transaction services provider.

The business being sold is a local market leader in payment services for the retail, hotel, and restaurant sectors and processes about 150m transactions per year.

Operating solely in the integrated payment service provider sector, and one of the largest electronic funds transfer networks in Sweden alone, Payzone Nordic generated sales of around €8m last year and employs almost 50 people.

According to Payzone chief executive Mike Maloney, the deal is strategically significant for the firm’s shareholders and is being done as the Nordic business is no longer deemed a core entity.

“Since the corporate restructuring of the group in 2010, we have been focusing on building core markets and businesses,” he said.

“Our Swedish payments business has been consistently growing over recent years in its core sectors of retail, hotel, and restaurants.

“Having deployed the business to this point, we are pleased to be selling to such an accomplished player in the Nordic payments market,” he said.

“We will now continue to focus on growing Payzone Group’s business in other markets where we have invested significantly in technology infrastructure, to facilitate the growth of payments in newer categories such as paid utility and public sector payments.

“We are also growing the range of payments options we offer to consumers to include all virtual channels, alongside our retailer network of terminals.”

For its part, Nets — which already has a position in the point-of-sale market in the Nordic region — is strengthening its position in the Swedish point-of-sale market through the transaction.