De La Rue Forms Alliance With Ingenico, With Takeover Option

Computergram International, March 31, 1998

By Rik Turner

A spokesperson at De La Rue said the logic behind the deal was "the need for a global presence" in electronic fund transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) terminals, pointing out that the two companies' networks are quite complementary, in that "they are strong in Australia, where we are scarcely represented, while we have a presence in the Far East; equally, they are strong in their home market of France, as we are in the UK." In addition, the union of De La Rue with Ingenico, which last year acquired Olivetti's Veron EFTPOS business to add another 120,000 terminals to its network, will nudge US manufacturer Hypercom Corp. (Phoenix, Arizona) into third place in terms of its installed base, according to last year's edition of The Nilson Report on the sector. According to the report, De La Rue is entrusting its EFTPOS operation to a company with a larger installed base and more experience in that segment of the electronic payments business, while becoming a shareholder with representation (in the person of De La Rue Cards Division's managing director) on the Ingenico board, as well as holding warrants enabling it to buy the French company at a later date. De La Rue's group revenues for the fiscal year 1997 totaled FFr768.2m ($1.2bn), while Ingenico predicts consolidated revenues of FFr445m ($72m).