EML Payments (ASX: EML) has received approval by French and UK regulators to complete its acquisition of Sentenial Limited including its Nuapay Brand. EML states that the acquisition positions it as a global leader in Open Banking and card payments.
EML is acquiring Sentenial, including its open banking product suite for an upfront enterprise value of €70 million (A$108.6 million), plus an earn-out component of up to €40 million (A$62.1 million).
Sentenial’s open banking brand Nuapay is said to complement EML’s digital product suite starting in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Tom Cregan, Managing Director & Group CEO at EML, said they have been working with the Sentenial team for months now to coordinate its go to market strategy:
”Strategically, this is an important acquisition for us, continuing our transition over the last ten years from a gift card company, to a General Purpose Reloadable company, and now extending that again to include digital payments, open banking and account-2-account payments, giving us a unique set of capabilities in the European market. We’re just as excited about welcoming the whole team from Sentenial into the EML family, and once travel opens up, getting over to meet them all in person.”
Sean Fitzgerald, founder & CEO at Sentenial, said the acquisition brings considerable investment for further growth:
“We’re delighted to bring these advantages to our partners and build upon our long-established reputation as their dependable first choice provider for open banking and account-2-account payments.”
EML points to data that indicates the number of Open Banking users worldwide is expected to grow at an average annual rate of nearly 50% between 2020 and 2024, with the European market being the largest.