Payzone sells Swedish payments services business

Payzone said today that it has sold its payments services business in Sweden, Payzone Nordic AB, to Pan Nordic payment transaction services provider Nets for an undisclosed sum.

Payzone Nordic AB provides payment services customised for the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors. Set up in 1989, the company is headquartered in Stockholm and processes over 150 million transactions a year.

According to Payzone, the company, which operates solely in the integrated payment service provider (PSP) sector, is one of the largest electronic funds transfer networks in Sweden. It generated sales around approximately SEK70m (€8m) in 2013 and employs nearly 50 people. Payzone Nordic’s CEO, Carl-Greger Leijonhufvud, will remain with the company.

Payzone said its operations in Ireland, UK, Romania and Greece are not affected by the transaction.

“Since the corporate restructuring of the group in 2010, we have been focussing on building core markets and businesses,” said CEO Mike Maloney.

“Our Swedish payments business has been consistently growing over recent years in its core sectors of retail, hotel and restaurants.  Having developed the business to this point, we are pleased to be selling to such an accomplished player in the Nordic payments market.

“We will now continue to focus on growing Payzone Group’s business in other markets where we have invested significantly in technology infrastructure to facilitate the growth of payments in newer categories such as pre-paid utility and public sector payments. We are also growing the range of payments options we offer to consumers to include all virtual channels alongside our retailer network of terminals.”