BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission approved on Wednesday French payment company Worldline’s <WLN.PA> 7.8 billion euro ($9.1 billion)acquisition of rival Ingenico <INGC.PA>, subject to conditions.
The Commission, which oversees competition policy in the 27-nation European Union, said that the merger proposed would have reduced competition in services facilitating in-store card payments in Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The companies agreed to divest certain point-of-sale (POS) merchant acquiring services and POS terminal provision and management in the three countries to remove the market overlap and address the Commission’s concerns.
The sector has seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions led by U.S. rivals seeking to build up their share of digital transactions.
($1 = 0.8539 euros)
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)
