Pine Labs eyes Asia operations of sinking Wirecard

BENGALURU | MUMBAI: Mastercard-backed Pine Labs has held initial talks to buy out the Asia business of bankrupt Germany-based payments company Wirecard, three people aware of the discussions said.The financial services player filed for bankruptcy last month after it emerged that $2 billion had gone missing from its balance sheet, in an alleged accounting fraud.The scandal forced Wirecard CEO Markus Braun to resign and led to his arrest in an accounting fraud probe. He has since been released on bail, news wire Bloomberg reported."Multiple other players have also expressed interest in the company's assets in the region," said a person aware of the conversation. "The legality of the matter still has to be seen," he said.At least four major payment deployers, including Hitachi Payments and Atos-backed Wordline Technology, have made enquiries about its sale, sources said. "We continue to expand our footprints. We wouldn't like to comment on this topic," Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs said. "There has been no such discussion and there is no basis to this news. Any information that you may have to the contrary is totally baseless," said a Hitachi Payments spokesperson, responding to ET's queries. Wirecard AG is not making any statements currently, while Worldline did not immediately respond to ET's email.The Financial Times reported that Wirecard's various international businesses, including its America unit, are up for sale. The Singapore-based Wirecard's Asia business services about 20,000 merchants in India, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia, among others, according to the company.The bankruptcy and fraud probe could see it lose several merchants, especially in India, before a buyout is finalised with a local player, sources said. Prospective suitors will only advance talks after details emerge from various ongoing regulatory proceedings against the company, they added."The discussion is still in very early stages and it's obviously challenging as there is an ongoing litigation against the company," said one of the sources cited earlier in the story. "There is also concern that Wirecard may lose customers during any process of migration due to these proceedings."Wirecard came under the scanner of regulatory authorities across the globe, including central banks in Germany, Singapore and the Philippines, after it came to light that it had been artificially inflating its balances. Wirecard had in 2015 paid an estimated $300 million to acquire the payments business of Indian ecommerce player Great India Retail, the Financial Times said.Pine Labs has had partnerships with Wirecard for its India business, sources said. Apart from its payment deployment business in India, Pine Labs also has a strong presence in the merchants payment space in Malaysia and Singapore.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dYsxzV