Euronet Acquires PayNet Romania

Published on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 13:13 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

BUCHAREST, Romania & LEAWOOD, Kan., USA-( Business Wire )-

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leading electronic payments provider, announces the acquisition of Smart PayNetwork S.A. (PayNet). PayNet provides integrated ATM outsourcing services, card issuing and acquiring and POS merchant servicing solutions to financial institutions in Romania.

With 44 employees, PayNet operates 720 ATMs and 1,700 POS terminals and manages approximately 540,000 cards. PayNet processes approximately 15 million card transactions annually and is a certified VISA and MasterCard service provider.

“We have proven ourselves leaders in delivering value, convenience and innovation to banking in Central and Eastern Europe. The acquisition of PayNet, combined with our recent deployment of the first independently owned ATM network in Romania, demonstrates Euronet’s continued focus on exciting growth opportunities in this market,” stated Nikos Fountas, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe EFT Processing Segment.

“The PayNet acquisition will nicely complement our growing European business through the addition of approximately a dozen new bank relationships currently processing a range of outsourcing services similar to those we currently provide,” said Kevin Caponecchi, President of Euronet Worldwide. “We are confident we can help our new customers expand their business through our portfolio of value added services together with access to our independently owned ATMs deployed in some of the most convenient places in Romania.”

The PayNet acquisition will generate revenues of approximately $3 million in the initial year of ownership together with accretive cash earnings per share of approximately one cent per share; it should contribute additional earnings in subsequent years because of synergies between the two companies.

About Euronet Worldwide, Inc.

Euronet Worldwide is an industry leader in processing secure electronic financial transactions. The Company offers payment and transaction processing solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers and individual consumers. These services include comprehensive ATM (Automated Teller Machines), POS (Point of Sale) and card outsourcing services, card issuing and merchant acquiring services, software solutions, consumer money transfer and bill payment services, and electronic distribution for prepaid mobile phone time and other prepaid products. Euronet's global payment network is extensive - including 12,668 ATMs, approximately 53,000 EFT POS terminals and a growing portfolio of outsourced debit and credit card services which are under management in 32 countries; card software solutions; a prepaid processing network of approximately 591,000 POS terminals at approximately 282,000 retailer locations in 29 countries; and a consumer-to-consumer money transfer network of approximately 140,000 locations serving 136 countries. With corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, USA, and 47 worldwide offices, Euronet serves clients in approximately 150 countries. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.euronetworldwide.com.

Euronet Worldwide, Inc.Stephanie Taylor, + This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.