Crédit Agricole buys 7% stake in Worldline

Crédit Agricole purchased a 7 per cent stake in France’s Worldline for an undisclosed price point, to support the joint venture it announced last year and stabilize its troubled payments partner, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The two companies announced in April that they would be launching a merchant payments joint venture, with an approximate investment of €80 million over the following two years.

With 50 per cent plus one share, Worldline would be the company’s predominant owner.

This agreement replaces the previous collaboration between the French lender and Wirecard, the German firm that failed in an accounting scandal

In a statement released on Monday, Crédit Agricole said that the investment “is intended to strengthen this partnership to create a major player in the French merchant payment services market” and that it still intends to be a “long-term minority shareholder.”

Notably, French lender have been contemplating a possible move to buy stock in the French company after its shares sank, as Bloomberg reported last month.

In October, Worldline lowered its sales projection, citing a decline in consumer spending and an increase in caution as factors affecting the company’s expansion and financial success. That day, the shares fell by 59 per cent.

The warning was the latest in a run of negative announcements for the European payments sector, which has been experiencing years of rapid expansion.