Nets Group signs agreement to acquire Checkout Finland

By Megha Bhattacharya

Nets Group announced that its Finnish e-commerce specialist, Paytrail has signed an agreement to acquire OP Financial Group’s Checkout Finland Oy. The acquisition is expected to bolster Nets’ European e-commerce plans and strengthen position in Finland market. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval from FIN-FSA, and the transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2021.

“The way we shop and transact online is somewhat different in Finland,” said Markus Laurio, CEO of Paytrail. “Not least because of the enduring popularity of direct bank transfers. Understanding and developing our offerings as the experts in Finnish e-commerce has always been our passion, and we are happy to join forces with Checkout Finland, to serve Finnish customers even better with our very strong capabilities and insights into Finnish digital payments.”

This year, Nets and Nexi teamed up in exclusive negotiations to reach a potential binding agreement on the terms of a merger. The agreement aims to establish a pan European PayTech provider. The transaction remains subject to reaching a binding agreement during the 10-day exclusivity period, as well as all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.

“While we are seeing a move towards larger players in the industry, together with the rising number of smaller fintech players, local know-how is also a key success factor,” said Robert Hoffmann, CEO of Merchant Services at Nets Group. “As we see e-commerce as one of the biggest growth areas within payments, we are very pleased to further strengthen our ability to innovate and offer the best in online payments in Finland with Checkout Finland.”

Recently, Nets announced a partnership with open banking platform Fabrick for facilitating the development of products, services and new ecosystem business opportunities in the Instant Payments space. The companies aim to create new solutions for delivering revenue streams for their new and existing clients.