French fintech companies Ingenico and Worldline are set to merge, according to a Feb. 3 press release. The €vii.8 billion ($8.half dozen billion) buyout deal was accepted by shareholders of the companies, both of which had previous exposure to crypto.

The merger and significance for shareholders

As part of the understanding, Worldline will offering Ingenico shareholders a mixed cash and stock bounty, with a premium of 17 pct over its Monday trading levels.

The combined entity will be held primarily by Wordline shareholders, with 65 percent, while the remaining 35 percent will be in the easily of Ingenico investors.

The merger continues a trend of consolidation in the payments industry. Earlier in January, Visa acquired fintech startup Plaid, which also had a small cryptocurrency footprint.

Ingenico and Wordline'southward crypto exposure

Worldline provides a large multifariousness of services ranging from Signal of Sale terminals, online merchant services to east-ticketing and fleet management systems. Ingenico is primarily known for its Point of Auction devices despite major diversification efforts. Its lath of directors removed one-time CEO for 11 years Philippe Lazare in Nov 2018.

I year later in Nov 2019, Ingenico had partnered with Pundi X, a project developing crypto-friendly Signal of Sale devices. The crypto projection used 1 of Ingenico's devices to offer payments in major cryptocurrencies via its software.

In August, Ingenico was ane of the collaborators in an Austrian initiative to have cryptocurrencies in several telecom stores.

Ingenico's share cost has more than doubled in 2019. At a public conference telephone call, Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, defended the company's decision to buy it now and non last twelvemonth:

"Timing is everything. If you wait at the stock price, it could've been a bargain, but I'm not certain the board of Ingenico would've been ready to sell."

Worldline itself has also dealt with cryptocurrency. In November, a partnership with Bitcoin Suisse enabled 85,000 merchants to accept crypto in Switzerland.

The combined company's stance on crypto is probable to be positive, but remains uncertain. Cointelegraph reached out for more than details on the matter, but did not immediately receive a response. The article will exist updated as more information is available.