An Acquisitive Shift4 Bids for Worldline’s U.S. and Canadian Assets

Shift4 Payments Inc. announced late afternoon Tuesday it is negotiating details with Worldline S.A. to acquire the big French processor’s acquiring assets in the United States and Canada. The negotiations, which Shift4 says are exclusive of other parties, would result in the big U.S. processor picking up Bambora Inc., Bambora Holding Corp., Bambora Corp., and Worldline SMB US Inc., according to the announcement.

The assets, which collectively are known as Bambora North America, include agreements with more than 140,000 merchants in the U.S. and Canada, along with arrangements with more than 500 independent software vendors.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter next year, though other details were not immediately available. A Shift4 spokesman tells Digital Transactions News Shift4 has “signed an exclusive agreement to acquire the [Worldline] subsidiaries.”

In addition to the U.S. assets, the Bambora deal would in part propel Center Valley, Pa.-based Shift4 deeply into the Canadian market at a time when it has focused on ventures outside its U.S. market, including its recent $2.5-billion acquisition of Global Blue, a Switzerland-based provider of transaction services to high-end merchants. “Shift4 has used acquisitions to spark growth pretty effectively,” says Eric Grover, principal at Intrepid Ventures, a payments consultancy.

At the same time, Paris-based Worldline has been struggling with growth. The company posted organic revenue increases of 10.7% in 2022 but saw that number fall to 6% in 2023 and 0.5% last year, according to calculations by Grover. Meanwhile, its stock is down 69% year-to-date. “They desperately need to change trajectory,” says Grover.

The Bambora transaction could be that change, Grover says, though much depends on final terms, he adds.

In the payments business where growth is critical, the deal, if concluded, could also represent a meaningful addition to Shift4’s processing operations and a significant revenue boost, particularly for its operations outside the U.S. That follows a pattern the company has mapped to generate growth, particularly in foreign markets. “Shift4 has used M&A to boost growth and to get into new markets,” says Grover. It would also hand the company assets in Canada, a market where it has not had a significant presence.

In that light, the Worldline deal “looks like it makes a lot of sense” for both parties, Grover adds.