Network International
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| LSE: NETW | |
| Industry | Payment solutions |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Dubai |
Key people | Ron Kalifa (Non-executive chairman) Simon Haslam (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Revenue | $334.9 million (2019)[1] |
| $90.5 million (2019)[1] | |
| $57.0 million (2019)[1] | |
| Website | investors |
Network International Holdings provides technology-enabled payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions in the middle east. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
The company was founded as a payments subsidiary of Emirates Bank in 1994.[2] Mainly operating in the Middle East and Africa region it became the first independent vendor in the Middle East to be certified by Mastercard and Visa for payments,[3] and a member of the JCB and UnionPay card schemes. The Abraaj Group bought a 49 per cent stake in the business in 2011.[4]
In January 2017, Simon Haslam, CEO of US payments processor Evalon replaced Bhairav Trivedi as CEO.[5]
The Abraaj Group sold its stake to Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic in 2015.[4] In a deal worth $340 million, Network acquired Emerging Markets Payments (EMP) from Actis in March 2016,[6] creating the largest payments processor in the MENA region, estimated as five times larger than CSC in Lebanon by Bhairav Trivedi, the CEO of Network at the time. It remains the largest payments processor in the region.[7]
In March 2019, Network announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange's main market, as well as the appointment of Ron Kalifa OBE, British payment's rival Worldpay's former CEO, as chairman.[8]
The company was the subject of an initial public offering in April 2019.[4] It was the largest float of that year until that point, listing with a valuation of £2.2 billion.[9] Network International sold 40% of its shares at the IPO.[9] In addition to this, Mastercard bought a cornerstone investment of $300 million, though the deal subject to a 9.99% limit,[10] which it stated it would invest in shared projects with Network in the MENA region as part of the deal. Mastercard is now the fourth largest shareholder in Network International after General Atlantic, Warburg Pincus and Emirates NBD.[11] While there were some concerns regarding Brexit's impact on market conditions[12] Kalifa commented that the London IPO would not be troubled by Brexit, as Network's business is not reliant on the UK-EU relationship.[13]
References
- ^ a b c "Annual Results 2019" (PDF). Network International. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Network International considers options for initial public offering". The National. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ March 2019, 22nd. "Network International to float on London Stock Exchange". FinTech Futures. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c "Network International Sells $1.4 Billion of Stock in Europe's Biggest IPO of 2019". Bloomberg. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Espinoza, Javier (January 6, 2017). "Payments chief ousted as private equity seeks rapid growth". Financial Times.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "UAE's Network International in $340 million deal to buy competitor". Reuters. March 2, 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Mastercard to invest $300 million in Network International IPO". Reuters. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
- ^ Megaw, Nicholas (4 March 2019). "Network appoints ex-Worldpay chief as chairman ahead of IPO". Financial Times.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Booth, James (10 April 2019). "Network International valued at £2.2bn in London's largest listing of 2019". CityAM. City A.M. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ "Mastercard to invest $300 million in Network International IPO". Reuters. 26 March 2019.
- ^ Megaw, Nicholas. "Mastercard to invest $300m in Network International IPO". Financial Times.
- ^ Duke, Simon (15 March 2019). "Network International set for flotation under ex-Worldpay chief". The Times.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Khan, Sarmad (March 28, 2019). "Network International receives strong investor interest for planned London IPO". The National.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)