Electronic payments processor and ATM operator Euronet Worldwide has acquired the assets of Telerecarga, a Spanish provider of pre-paid top-up services, and of Dynamic Telecom, a pre-paid service provider in the US. The vendor has also bumped up its stake in UK-based ATX Software from 10% to 51%.
Established in 1999, Madrid-based Telerecarga provides mobile-top ups and other pre-paid products through approximately 10,000 POS terminals and over 14,000 other points of sale in Spain.
Euronet says it acquired substantially all of the assets of the Spanish pre-paid wireless company for a purchase price of EUR38 million, with EUR23 million being paid at closing on March 16 through the assumption of Telerecarga's debt. The vendor expects to pay a further EUR12.6 million in cash and assume an additional EUR2.4 million in additional debt in May.
The vendor has also acquired substantially all of the assets of Dynamic Telecom, which sells pre-paid services - including mobile top-ups, long distance calling cards, credit cards and stored-value cards - via POS terminals in convenience stores across the US.
The assets of Dynamic Telecom were purchased on an earn-out basis through an initial issuance of 434,116 shares of Euronet common stock. Euronet says the the earn out is currently estimated to be between $7 million and $10 million.
Euronext has also increased its stake in UK-based ATX Software, a provider of electronic pre-paid systems, from 10% to 51%. In a transaction closed in May 2004, Euronet purchased 10% of ATX and was granted an option to purchase an additional 41% of the shares of ATX prior to 1 April 2005. The vendor paid EUR8 million for the additional ATX shares, with half the purchase price paid with stock and half paid by cash.
Commenting on all three acquisitions, Michael Brown, chairman and CEO, Euronet, says: "We are capitalising on the growing pre-paid market, and our acquisitions in the pre-paid sector allow us to significantly expand our presence in some of the leading and emerging electronic top-up markets in the US and Europe."