Portuguese group buys Wirecard’s business in Romania

German electronic payment processor Wirecard, which went insolvent after revealing that EUR 2 bln were missing from its balance sheet, sold its Romanian subsidiary to Portuguese group SIBS.

Local financial daily Ziarul Financiar reported the deal was over EUR 50 million.

The German group had paid EUR 32 mln for the Romanian company Provus Group in 2016.

Wirecard Romania recorded a net profit of RON 18.5 mln (EUR 3.9 mln) in 2019. Its turnover reached RON 43.4 mln (EUR 9.2 mln).

Some 16 investors were interested in taking over Wirecard’s business in Romania, according to Ziarul Financiar.

“We are excited to become part of SIBS, a company with a business profile similar to ours and a strong presence in the payment solutions environment on two continents. I am sure that, together, our companies will continue to bring innovative payment solutions to the Romanian and European markets and be a reliable partner both for the companies that have given us their trust so far and for new companies,” said Utku Ogrendil, CEO Wirecard Romania.

SIBS - (Sociedade Interbancária De Serviços) is a Portuguese payment processor operating in countries such as Algeria, Angola, Malta, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg. Raiffesen Bank Romania’s investment division managed the sale of Wirecard Romania, according to ZF.

Noerr provided legal advice to Wirecard while SIBS worked with local law firm Stratulat Albulescu.

(Photo: Thomas Fink | Dreamstime.com)