MasterCard Inc. said Thursday it's acquiring DataCash Group plc, a European payment service provider, for approximately £333 million (about $519.4 million) in a move designed to expand MasterCard's e-commerce business.
"E-commerce represents an important part of MasterCard's growth strategy and this acquisition will allow us to provide new services to our acquiring customers, as well as drive increased e-commerce penetration in both existing and new markets," Ajay Banga, MasterCard president and chief executive, said in a statement.
DataCash offers a single interface that provides e-commerce merchants with the ability to process secure payments across the world. In the year ended Dec. 31, DataCash reported revenue of £36.9 million (about $57.6 million) and an EBITDA margin of 46%.
MasterCard expects the transaction to be approximately $0.05 dilutive to its fourth quarter 2010 earnings per share due to amortization and one-time transaction costs.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of October.
