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Online-payments provider Skrill Group has a new owner. United Kingdom-based Optimal Payments Plc is buying London-based Skrill for 1.1 billion euros (U.S. $1.2 billion), Optimal announced Monday.
Both companies provide digital-wallet services, with Skrill specializing in wallets for online-gambling users, e-commerce and money transfers. Skrill also offers a payment gateway and a white-label payment-upon-invoice service for merchants.
Optimal offers the Netbanx payment-processing platform and the Neteller digital wallet, in addition to prepaid card services.
Subject to Optimal shareholders’ approval, the deal will result in a company that works with 41 currencies and more than 100 payment types. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, Optimal says.
Optimal says the deal will be “transformational and value-enhancing” for the company, providing it with a significant international position that can help increase its market share, especially with online gambling. Online gambling in the United States is permitted in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey, though some states, such as Illinois, allow online lottery-ticket purchases.
New Jersey has the most online-gaming revenue, garnering approximately 90% of the U.S. total, according to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research.
In November, Optimal landed the Pala Interactive LLC payment-processing contract. Pala Interactive owns and operates the Pala Casino Spa and Resort in Pala, Calif. Its majority shareholder is the Pala Band of Mission Indians.
Optimal says the addition of Skrill will make the enlarged company “well positioned to capitalize on expected growth in the North America regulated online-gambling market.”
In separate news, Optimal Payments reported its 2014 revenues were up 44% to $365 million, with after-tax profit up 83% to $57.7 million.
