Optimal Payments Inks Acquisition of Skrill Group in Deal Worth $1.2B

by Jeff Patterson
  • Despite the acquisition, Optimal Payments CEO, Joel Leonoff will remain in his role – Skrill's CEO, David Sear is stepping down.
Optimal Payments Inks Acquisition of Skrill Group in Deal Worth $1.2B
Join our Telegram channel

Optimal Payments has completed its acquisition of the Skrill Group in a deal worth approximately $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion), according to a Skrill statement.

Skrill Group is a provider of online payment and e-money solutions, boasting one of the deepest market penetrations in Europe, amongst prepaid online voucher providers. The new acquisition will help cement Optimal Payments as a comprehensive provider of payment solutions that now includes Skrill, paysafecard, Payolution, and NETELLER.

The deal was originally announced earlier this year, when Optimal Payments expressed an interest to acquire Skrill.

Despite the acquisition, Optimal Payments CEO, Joel Leonoff is slated to remain in his role – alternatively, Skrill Group’s CEO, David Sear is stepping down today, snapping an tenure with the group after guiding the company through its acquisition of Ukash and sale to Optimal Payments.

According to Mr. Leonoff, President, in a recent statement on the acquisition, “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. I must recognise and congratulate David and his team on the Skrill Group’s success to date, and for helping to establish a platform on which we are confident of driving growth in the future.”

“The combination of Skrill and Optimal Payments creates a multi-billion dollar fintech company and a powerful force in the world of payments. This is a great deal for the shareholders of both businesses and will significantly strengthen the value we provide to our customers. I have every confidence the business will become a major player in global online payments moving forward and wish the new leadership team the greatest of success as they steer the combined group into this exciting next phase of growth,” added Mr. Sear in an accompanying statement.

The announcement comes just one week after Optimal Payments' Stephen Shaper, its non-executive Director, decided to relinquish his board role and step down with immediate effect,

Optimal Payments has completed its acquisition of the Skrill Group in a deal worth approximately $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion), according to a Skrill statement.

Skrill Group is a provider of online payment and e-money solutions, boasting one of the deepest market penetrations in Europe, amongst prepaid online voucher providers. The new acquisition will help cement Optimal Payments as a comprehensive provider of payment solutions that now includes Skrill, paysafecard, Payolution, and NETELLER.

The deal was originally announced earlier this year, when Optimal Payments expressed an interest to acquire Skrill.

Despite the acquisition, Optimal Payments CEO, Joel Leonoff is slated to remain in his role – alternatively, Skrill Group’s CEO, David Sear is stepping down today, snapping an tenure with the group after guiding the company through its acquisition of Ukash and sale to Optimal Payments.

According to Mr. Leonoff, President, in a recent statement on the acquisition, “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. I must recognise and congratulate David and his team on the Skrill Group’s success to date, and for helping to establish a platform on which we are confident of driving growth in the future.”

“The combination of Skrill and Optimal Payments creates a multi-billion dollar fintech company and a powerful force in the world of payments. This is a great deal for the shareholders of both businesses and will significantly strengthen the value we provide to our customers. I have every confidence the business will become a major player in global online payments moving forward and wish the new leadership team the greatest of success as they steer the combined group into this exciting next phase of growth,” added Mr. Sear in an accompanying statement.

The announcement comes just one week after Optimal Payments' Stephen Shaper, its non-executive Director, decided to relinquish his board role and step down with immediate effect,

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|} !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}