SafeCharge Enters another Acquisition Deal, This Time with 3V Transactions Services
Less than two weeks since award-winning payments solutions provider SafeCharge entered into a takeover bid over Israeli rival CreditGuard, the company has come out with a press release announcing another acquisition deal, this time with Dublin-based card payments technology provider 3V Transactions Services Ltd. The two companies have agreed that for a total acquisition price of €14.5 million, SafeCharge will gain 100 percent ownership of 3V Transaction’s issued capital stocks. Completion of the deal is expected by January 2015, which entails an initial payment of €11.6 million in favor of 3V, and the remaining €2.9 million balance settled over a three-year period.
3V Transaction Services specialises in developing effective hi-tech tools for issuing, handling, and managing prepaid card systems supporting programmes for physical cards and virtual cards or vouchers, including those deployed to mobile devices. As SafeCharge’s current expansion initiatives are largely focused on the fast growing prepaid card, the 3V acquisition is strategically significant, since the latter will provide the groundwork for the payment solution company’s new Issuing Division.
Early this month, MasterCard Europe granted SafeCharge the necessary authorisation that will enable the payment firm to issue co-branded prepaid MasterCards. Securing the authorisation was the first and vital pace, which SafeCharge CEO David Avgi had previously described as a major step in fulfilling plans of entering greater markets, by expanding the company’s offerings of payment solution options.
In the company’s latest acquisition announcement, CEO Avgi stated that the 3V deal marks another milestone in SafeCharge’s execution of its strategic plan for entering new product verticals, and of delivering innovative payment solutions. Gaining complete control over 3V’s operation enables SafeCharge to speed up its entry into the quickly expanding prepaid card issuance vertical, as the Irish technology company will furnish the foundation of the significant and new Issuing Division.
3V Transaction Service’s Chief Executive, Kieron Guilfoyles is likewise pleased that SafeCharge selected their technology and team of talented developers in their bid to deliver new solutions to the wide-ranging network of merchants and channels served by SafeCharge. The 3V CEO voiced his company’s eagerness in working with the SafeCharge team, and their commitment to the success of the acquisition transaction.
SafeCharge, a company founded and owned by Playtech founder Teddy Sagi, is apparently all set to expand its business-to-business (B2B) product offerings. The 3V acquisition entails gaining ownership of an excellent and leading card issuance platform, proven as scalable in existing live projects in several countries across the globe. Having instant access and ownership to 3V’s technology empowers SafeCharge to leverage its issuing status as a MasterCard Principal Member, its digital wallet solutions, and its Pay.com brand of digital payment services.
The market growth of the prepaid card type of payment in Europe is estimated to have accelerated at 21 percent per annum. Acquiring 3V Transaction’s proprietary tools for furnishing physical prepaid cards, digital payment vouchers, gift cards, and virtual cards via mobile payments will help SafeCharge expand its footprint into new regulatory markets, and therefore open new avenues for cross-selling opportunities in numerous countries.
