PKO Bank Polski and EVO form strategic alliance

PKO Banks Polsi and EVO Payments International are forming a long-term strategic alliance. Payment service provider EVO Payments will acquire a 66 percent interest in PKO’s merchant acquiring business eService. The two companies will also establish a 20 year alliance under which both parties will continue to work together to grow further eService’s business within Europe.

The press release reads that PKO is about to get 113.5 million dollars for its stake, plus an additional earn-out that’s based on future performance. eService is Poland’s leading merchant acquirer, with more than 35% of market shares in terms of transaction count and volume. Its network consists of more than 80,000 point of sale terminals in Poland. eService also had a key role in the development of mobile banking solution IKO, which is widely used in the East European country.

Expansion within Central and Eastern Europe
Zbigniew Jagiełło, the CEO of PKO Banks Polski, says that with this strategic alliance the company is executing its strategy for eService. “The company has achieved a leading position in the Polish market, is highly profitable and well positioned to expand internationally. Now, with a prominent and one of the most dynamically developing payments service providers in the world, we can mutually focus on further developing eService as a leading merchant acquirer in Poland, while expanding throughout Central and Eastern Europe.”

Expand the market
The other party, EVO Payments International is also happy with the alliance. CEO James G. Kelly: “It fits perfectly with our strategy of expanding our global reach and strengthening our position in an important European market. We have been very impressed with the eService team and will continue to support the team in growing the market and the region by bringing our proven sales solutions to expand the market. We intend on making our existing products available to eService, while leveraging the remarkable eService infrastructure”.