NETS lands PKK

Jul 01, 2008
By Mike Collier

TALLINN- Pankade Kaardikeskus (PKK), the national processor of card transactions in Estonia has been acquired by Northern European Transaction Services (NETS), a leading European processor of card transactions in the Nordic countries. The price NETS paid has not been made public.

Commenting on the deal, GILD Bankers partner Heikki Källu said that the sale of the national processor reflects the current pan-European consolidation trend in the industry: “In recent years a number of similar deals have taken place. For example Norwegian group EDB bought the Swedish card processing company CEKAB and US origin First Data International who also has a presence in Latvia and Lithuania acquired POLCARD, the largest processor in Poland. In addition several mergers have occured, such as VOCA and LINK in the United Kingdom and clearing service provider SIA merging with processor SBB in Italy.

“One of the drivers of this consolidation in Europe is the creation of SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) that is planned to be launched on a broader scale in 2010. The main goal of SEPA is to allow payment transactions in the eurozone to become as smooth and efficient as they currently are in the domestic markets.”

GILD acted as an adviser to Hansabank, SEB and Danske Bank in the sale.

No changes are in plan with the day to day operations of PKK following the NETS acquisition. The key business in Estonia will continue to be providing services to the banks operating in Estonia.

PKK was established in 1993 when Estonian banks began issuing payment cards. PKK today focuses on providing support services to electronic banking. In 2007 the revenue of PKK was EUR 4.3 mln with a profit of EUR 1.5 mln.