Shift4 Makes a Big Card-Present Play in Europe With a Deal for Germany’s Vectron Systems

Shift4 Payments Inc. confirmed early Monday it has reached an agreement to acquire the German point-of-sale technology company Vectron Systems AG at a price of 10.5 euros, or $11.42, per share. The offer represents a 50% premium to Vectron’s current share price, according to early reports. Information was not immediately available regarding the total sale price or volume of shares outstanding. The company had a market capitalization of 83.4 million euros ($90.3 million) as of early morning Monday.

Vectron, based in Munster, Germany, markets point-of-sale systems through some 300 POS resellers, offering Allentown, Pa.-based Shift4 access to distribution for card-present solutions in Europe. Shift4 is expected to release further details about the deal later this week.

Among Vectron’s stronger merchant concentrations is restaurants, a market Shift4 has long cultivated in the United States. The deal mirrors what the company has done in the U.S. restaurant market, according to observers.

Indeed, observers see much the same potential for Shift4 in Europe. The company last year cemented a place in processing for e-commerce transactions in Europe with its $525-million acquisition of the Israel-based processor Finaro. That deal closed in October after long delays brought on by regulatory scrutiny. “They’re clearly looking to take the Shift4 story to Europe,” says Eric Grover, principal at the advisory firm Intrepid Ventures. Now, with Vectron, Shift4 will have bulked up its presence in card-present processing in Europe, he says.

Picking up Vectron will also strengthen Shift4’s hand among resellers in the European point-of-sale arena, Grover points out. “The ISV market is less developed in Europe,” he says, referring to independent software vendors, the entities that weave payments capability into business software written for specific markets, such as hospitality.

Besides its corps of resellers, Vectron has 65,000 restaurant clients in Europe, according to information from Shift4, which expects the deal will widen its distribution of card-present payments technology in the European market.

Shift4 last fall bulked up its business in the North American restaurant market with its $100-million deal for Appetize Technologies Inc. At the time, its chief executive, Jared Isaacman, said the company was targeting a bigger presence in Europe and Canada.