French payments firm Ingenico Group has agreed to acquire rival Sweden-based Bambora from Nordic Capital for €1.5bn.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Bambora with operations in Europe, North America and Australia provides end-to-end in-store, online and mobile payment solutions for more than 110,000 merchants and enterprises across the world.

Through the acquisition, Ingenico expects to enhance its customer centric offerings from the complementary technological skills of Bambora.

With the addition of Bambora, Ingenico gets a dedicated direct-to-SMB sales channel for its retail business division.

The French firm says that the acquisition will enable it to get into a position to take advantage of the combined portfolios comprising end-to-end payment solutions.  

Ingenico Group chairman and CEO Philippe Lazare said: “The acquisition of Bambora represents a key milestone in our strategic plan providing a more integrated client offering and omnichannel solutions.

“Coupled with the investments made in our platforms and the development of new technological features, Bambora will enhance our customer centric approach and will reinforce our online and in-store positioning through a perfect complementarity.”

The acquisition would also boost its online acquiring capabilities in Europe and add specific advanced functionalities for cross-border firms across the world, said Ingenico.

Besides, the transaction is likely to bring scalable assets to the table having a complementary footprint. It is likely to grow Ingenico’s online and in-store offer in the Nordics, Australia and North America with the addition of new gateways.

In Australia, Ingenico will be able to expand its footprint with POS managed services and full estate management offering through the Bambora acquisition.

Bambora CEO Johan Tjärnberg said: “With our one stop shop payment services, our cross border acquiring capabilities and our customers’ digital approach, Bambora fits perfectly with Ingenico’s strategic initiatives to address market evolutions and focus on merchants’ needs.

“The combination of our scalable end-to-end solutions with Ingenico’s assets will create great value to our customers by helping them to drive performance.”

The deal is anticipated to be closed by the year end depending on approval from regulatory and antitrust authorities, and also on the completion of consultation with employee representative authorities.

Image: Ingenico Elite 510 terminal and separate keypad. Photo: courtesy of Aurélien Haberstich/Wikipedia.org.