Sorainen is advising French payments company Worldline on its acquisition of payment processors First Data Lietuva, First Data Latvia, and First Data Eesti.
According to Sorainen, "Worldline, a European leader in the payments and transactional services industry employing over 8,700 people worldwide and with estimated yearly revenue of approximately EUR 1.5 billion, signed an agreement with First Data Corporation to acquire its Baltic subsidiaries for approximately EUR 73 million. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017."
In addition, according to Sorainein, First Data Baltics, which generated revenue of approximately EUR 23 million in 2016, "currently employs approximately 200 employees and is the leading financial processor in the Baltics, providing a broad range of outsourcing services to the main Baltic banking groups and also to some banks in the wider Nordic region."
As Gilles Grapinet, Worldline CEO, commented that: “The acquisition of First Data Baltics is a significant development for our group to accelerate the execution of our Pan-European consolidation strategy in financial processing services. In one transaction, we gain a leading position in the fast-developing countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, we reinforce our group capabilities in the north of Europe and will establish new relationships with numerous prestigious Baltic and Nordic banks.”
Sorainen is advising on Baltic aspects of the transaction. The firm's team is led by Partner Toomas Prangli and includes Senior Associates Juulika Aavik, Janis Bite, and Viktorija Smirnova-Cerkasa, and Associates Artur Drapeko and Toms Vilnis.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Ellex announced that it had advised First Data Corporation on the sale of First Data companies in the Baltic States to Worldline. The firm's team consisted of Partner Zinta Jansons in Latvia; Partner Sven Papp and Associates Iveta Ceple and Gerda Liik in Estonia; and Associate Partner Robert Chiochys and Junior Associate Diana Cerkeviciuite in Lithuania.
