CREDIT Agricole acquired a 7 per cent stake in Worldline for an undisclosed price to help stabilise its struggling payments partner and strengthen a joint venture announced last year.

The investment “is intended to strengthen this partnership to create a major player in the French merchant payment services market”, Credit Agricole said in a statement on Monday (Jan 22), adding that it plans to remain a “long-term minority shareholder”.

Bloomberg reported last month that the French lender had been discussing a potential move to buy stock in Worldline after its shares plunged, citing people familiar with the matter.

Worldline in October cut its sales outlook, saying consumers are growing more cautious and spending less, hurting the company’s growth and profitability. The shares plunged by 59 per cent that day. The warning added to a string of bad news for the payments industry in Europe, which is grappling with a slowdown after years of growth.

The two companies announced in April that they were forming a joint venture in merchant payments, planning to invest about 80 million euros (S$117 million) over the next two years. Worldline would be the majority owner of the unit, holding 50 per cent plus one share.

The agreement replaced the French lender’s previous partnership with Wirecard, the German company that collapsed in an accounting scandal. BLOOMBERG

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