Online payment provider Skrill (Moneybookers), one of Europe’s largest and majority owned by Investcorp, is to acquire paysafecard.com Wertkarten, an Austrian provider of prepaid vouchers that enable consumers to shop online.
This strategic acquisition is intended to transform Skrill’s offering for both merchants and end users by combining its digital wallet service with prepaid solutions available in 31 countries. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals being obtained, is the biggest in Skrill’s history to date.
"This acquisition will add significant scale to the Skrill Group in terms of payment volume, customers and merchants and will increase our overall market share," said Skrill CEO Siegfried Heimgaertner. "The combined entity will offer a unique proposition in the payments market combining our leading digital wallet with the sophisticated POS and cash network of paysafecard. It enhances our product portfolio significantly, offering payment and money transfer options for both online and offline channels.”
Upon completion of the acquisition, Skrill Group’s 560 employees will be joined by 150 new members of staff, mostly based in Vienna. This will include experienced members of senior management.
"After 12 years of developing the company from scratch the acquisition by a strategic partner like Skrill is the next stage for our rapidly growing and internationally-oriented company,” paysafecard CEO Michael Müller said. “Our strategy was always to gain a global presence and reach a size that gives us significant market leadership."
