EML eyes Irish Prepaid payday

EML Payments is continuing with its overseas buying spree, acquiring a European payments company, Prepaid Financial Services (Ireland) Ltd. PFS is a provider of white label payments and banking-as-a-service technology.

EML will pay £226 million upfront and a £55 million earn-out. It has launched an equity raising, seeking A$250 million to help fund the deal.

It is EML's third substantial investment in European expansion this year.

PFS was founded in 2008 and has a wide range of customers, including financial institutions, non-financial corporates, fintechs and public sector organisations. It operates in 24 countries.

EML claims that the acquisition will make it one of the world's leading prepaid payments providers and a leading fintech enabler in open banking.

It says the acquisition will add digital banking and multi-currency offerings to its product suite.

PFS is forecast to earn net revenue of $84 million and EBITDA of $24 million in the current financial year. EML has forecast that its 2019/20 EBITDA will be between $38.5 million and $42.5 million -  an increase of 29 to 43 per cent over the previous year.

In July, EML received approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to acquire the 25.1 per cent of Irish payment card company PerfectCard DAC it did not already own, in a deal worth $4.7 million.

EML acquired 74.9 per cent of PerfectCard a year earlier. EML said that having an Irish eMoney licence would allow it to self-issue regulated payment products in European Union markets.

In May, EML acquired Flex-e-Card Ltd, a gift cards business that trades as flex-e-card and flex-e-vouchers.

An EML subsidiary, EML Payments Europe, acquired FEC for A$45 million.

FEC is described as "a provider of gift card solutions to the shopping mall sector", with 226 shopping centres under contract in Europe - mainly the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Italy and Finland.

In a statement to the ASX, EML said the acquisition would enhance its gift and incentive segment and it would deepen the company's relationships with shopping centre operators, such as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

It also took the company into new markets, including Poland and the United Arab Emirates.