Optimal Payments Completes Acquisition of Skrill Group

Online payments company Optimal Payments, has completed its acquisition of Skrill Group, one of Europe’s biggest prepaid online voucher providers, for about €1.1 billion (US$1.2 billion.)

The acquisition will ultimately result in a leading payment and e-wallet provider with substantial international scale and reach.

It also expands Optimal Payment’s product portfolio, which includes paysafecard, Payolution, NETELLER®, Net+® NETBANX® and FANS Entertainment, with the addition of Skrill and Ukash.

All of these products are designed to facilitate secure payments between millions of consumers and thousands of businesses around the world in multiple currencies.

With Skrill on board, Optimal Payments is well positioned to lead the stored value and payments processing sectors by offering more than 100 payment types in more than 22 languages and more than 41 currencies.

The acquisition also expands the company’s exposure to digital media and e-commerce verticals, as well as increases merchant, customer and geographic diversification.

Joel Leonoff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Optimal Payments, commented, “The acquisition of the Skrill Group creates a global fintech champion in the fast growing digital payments space that is of sufficient scale for us to now seek a main market listing and FTSE250 inclusion as soon as possible.”

Skrill Group CEO David Sear will step down from his position as part of the acquisition.