Mastercard completes purchase of Nets account-to-account services

European payments technology provider The Nets Group says it has completed the sale of its account-to-account corporate business services to Mastercard.

The €2.85 billion ($3.4 billion U.S.) deal moves Nets' clearing, instant payment and e-billing services to Mastercard, which was seeking to strengthen its core services in the European market. The e-billing services include Betalingsservice in Denmark and AvtaleGiro/eFaktura in Norway.

The acquisition of a majority of Denmark-based Nets' corporate services business was initiated in the summer of 2019, marking the largest investment of any kind for Mastercard to date.

The deal was initially expected to close a year ago, but the closing process was slowed as the companies shifted focus to helping clients adjust processes and technology during the pandemic.

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"I have no doubt that the account-to-account platform will continue to thrive as demand for digital payments continues," Bo Nilsson, CEO of Nets, said in a Friday press release. "This transaction has allowed us to refocus our business model on merchant services and issuer and eSecurity services, and to increase our exposure to high-growth regions and faster-growing business segments, such as e-commerce."

In a deal illustrating Nets' desire to strengthen merchant services, the company acquired Polskie ePlatnosci (PeP), a leading merchant acquirer in Poland, a year ago for $405 million.

In the past year, Nets Group has seen the demand for digital payments accelerate among consumers, merchants and banks across its Pan-European market. The company initiated a merger with payments platform Nexi in November 2020, creating a scaled platform and presence in what it called the most attractive, fast-growing and underpenetrated regions in Europe. Completion of the merger, estimated at more than $9 billion, and regulatory approvals are progressing as planned, Nets stated.

"With substantial potential for further penetration of digital payments in all our geographies, we are extremely well positioned for growth in general, and in e-commerce in particular, as we continue our joint growth ambitions with Nexi to become the European paytech leader," Nilsson said.

Since 2018, Nets Group has executed seven major strategic transactions related to digital payments advancements as a way to accelerate European growth.