PE-backed Concardis and Nets set to merge

Nicole Tovstiga
05 June 2018

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Denmark-based Nets and Germany-based Concardis, two PE-backed payments services, will merge in a transaction structured as a share exchange.

The deal will see Concardis shareholders contribute their shares in return for Nets shares. Nets CEO Bo Nilsson will lead the combined group as CEO, while Robert Hoffmann will continue to lead Concardis as CEO, reporting to Nilsson.

The two companies were taken over by private equity backers less than a year ago, with Bain Capital and Advent acquiring Concardis in January 2017 and Nets being bought by Hellman & Friedman in September 2017.

The new group will be headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark, and both Nets and Concardis will retain their brands.

Following the merger, the combined group intends to refine its service offering, with the merger expected to report an EBITDA of €500m and €1.3bn in net revenue this year. The resulting industrial scale is thought to enable further investments in innovation and service improvements for merchants, enterprises and bank customers.

The merger is expected to close by Q4 2018.

Previous funding
Advent International and Bain Capital Private Equity listed Nets in September 2016, in one of the largest Nordic private-equity-backed IPOs since 2010, according to Unquote Data. The buyout consortium listed the company just two years after the two GPs acquired Nets from a group of Danish and Norwegian banks for DKK 17bn.

Hellman & Friedman announced its intention to acquire and de-list Nets in a DKK 33.1bn deal in September 2017. The GP cleared a 94% approval rate from shareholders in payments service Nets, triggering the take-private of the Nasdaq Copenhagen-listed firm in February 2018.

Buyout houses Advent and Bain bought German payments service Concardis in January 2017.

Company
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Nets provides payments, information and digital identity services. The company employs 2,600 employees in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Eschborn, near Frankfurt, Concardis provides cashless payment processes, including contactless payment systems and card terminals. With subsidiaries in Switzerland and Austria, the business operates across the DACH region.

People
Nets – Bo Nilsson (CEO).
Concardis Group – Robert Hoffmann (CEO).