Jointly set up in 2022, the joint venture of ANZ and Worldline will now be fully-owned by one of Australia’s “big four” banks.
ANZ Group Holdings Limited announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Worldline S.A.’s 51% share in ANZ Worldline for an enterprise value of $89 million, with an implied equity value of approximately $30 million.
ANZ Worldline is a joint venture between the two companies that provides point-of-sale and online payment services to businesses in Australia. It was founded in 2022 to combine ANZ’s local Australian banking relationships with Worldline’s global, market-leading point-of-sale and online payment technology.
The Worldline share sale transaction is expected to close in H2 2026, subject to approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Worldline will continue to provide technology and software services to ANZ during the transitional period to ensure operational continuity for the formerly-joint enterprise.
The bank estimates the transaction will have an impact of approximately 6 basis points on its Level 2 Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio.
“There will be no change to the existing ANZ Worldline operations on completion, with customers continuing to use ANZ Worldline services and products as they do today,” the company stated.
Lisa Vasic, Managing Director Transaction Banking, Institutional at ANZ, said: “This acquisition will allow us to strengthen our direct relationship with our customers and better meet our customer’s needs, as we continue to focus on providing our small business customers, right up to our largest Institutional customers, with a compelling merchant proposition.”
ANZ currently holds a 49% stake in the joint venture, with Worldline owning the remaining 51% prior to the transaction.
The divestment of Pacific activities is part of Worldline’s commitment to sharpen the Group’s focus on payment activities in Europe and should signal the end of the fintech’s portfolio reshaping. Earlier, the firm closed its North America and Payment IQ subsidiaries, receiving about €225M in capital. Total net cash proceeds from all the Worldline’s recently announced divestments (MeTS, Worldline North America, Cetrel, PaymentIQ, Worldline India, Worldline New Zealand and ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions Australia) are estimated at €590-640.
Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, CEO of Worldline, said: “Q1 confirms that Worldline is moving in the right direction. Our results are in line with expectations, with Merchant Services growing for the first quarter since Q4 2024. We have now reprofiled our portfolio and strengthened our balance sheet, allowing us to focus on execution.”
