Payment processors are the acquisition du jour, it seems. In the last fortnight, we have witnessed Vantiv’s successful bid for Worldpay, the purchase of Digital River Payments by Worldline, Ingenico’s takeover of Bambora, and Permira taking a 10 per cent stake in Swedish payments processor Klarna. By the time Paysafe (PAYS) announced it had received a possible takeover offer from a private equity consortium, the market had spent several days acclimatising to a developing trend. Shares in Paysafe rose 8 per cent on the news, a reaction subdued perhaps by prior M&A activity in the payment processing sector. The market response was also obscured by Paysafe’s announcement of its own acquisition: Texas-based Merchants’ Choice Payments Solutions (MCPS).
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