Irish electronic payments firm Alphyra and British ATM provider Cardpoint have announced terms of a merger that will create a new company named Payzone.
The merged company will be headquartered and domiciled in Ireland and listed on London's junior Aim market. It will be about 59.05 percent owned by Alphyra shareholders, who are mainly company managers, and venture capital firm Balderton Capital.
Cardpoint shareholders will own the remaining 40.95 per cent of Payzone.
"The Payzone board believes that the merger will create significant value for Payzone shareholders through cost savings, particularly in the UK, which are expected to be achieved over a period of 12 to 18 months," the companies said.
Shares in the newly formed group, which will be led by a board drawn from both Cardpoint and Alphyra, are expected to begin trading by the end of December.
The Merger constitutes a reverse-takeover of Alphyra by Cardpoint under Aim rules and is conditional on the consent of Cardpoint shareholders.
Alphyra has operations in 20 countries and operates a payment network with over 150,000 point of sale terminals. Cardpoint is a smaller company that operates about 6,000 cash machines in the United Kingdom and Germany.