Equity Firm Shells out EUR600 million for Majority Stake in Skrill (Aug. 19, 2013)
Aug. 19, 2013
One of Europe’s largest private equity firms has acquired a controlling stake in U.K.-based online payment system Skrill. Funds advised by CVC Capital Partners doled out EUR 600 million (US$801 million) to nab a 75 percent stake in Skrill from Bahrain-based Investcorp.
Founded in 2001 as Moneybookers, Skrill is among the world’s largest independent digital wallet providers, with more than 35 million account holders and a network of 150,000 merchants who use its payment gateway. The Skrill Digital Wallet enables any customer to make online payments and send and receive money online. The company expanded last year with the acquisition of Austria-headquartered paysafecard, a Paybefore Award-winning provider of prepaid vouchers for online shopping. During 2012, Skrill had revenues of EUR 200 million (US$267 million) and employed about 700 people.
“CVC’s global reach and experience will support our goal to become the first choice in payments on a global basis,” said Skrill’s President and CEO Siegfried Heimgaertner, who noted that Investcorp will remain a “significant investor” in Skrill. The sale to CVC represents a strong return for Investcorp, which paid EUR 105 million to acquire Skrill in 2007.
