German digital payments company Wirecard and Tokyo-based multinational holding conglomerate SoftBank Group have signed an agreement of which Softbank will invest around €900m into Wirecard.
Under the agreement, Wirecard will issue bonds exclusively to SoftBank Group across five years – overall the stake is an equivalent to approximately 5.6% of the company.
The parties have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership for digital payment solutions; the deal is subject to approval by shareholders at its annual general meeting on June 18, Wirecard said.
Markus Braun, CEO at Wirecard, commented, “As global innovators, we focus heavily on expanding our networks and creating opportunities for companies with groundbreaking ideas.”
SoftBank Group said it will seek to support Wirecard in its effort to expand into Japan and South Korea, as well as providing “collaboration opportunities” within SoftBank Group’s global portfolio.
This includes: digital payments, data-analytics/AI and other digital financial services.
The announcement disclosed that the partnership is anticipated to also extend joint exploration of new product and service offers in digital lending.
Braun concluded: “In SoftBank we have found a partner that shares both our passion for new technologies and drive to spearhead the latest innovations, all on a global scale.
“In addition, through this potential partnership, we will expand our reach and products to the East Asian markets, thereby further strengthening our position in Asia.”
Wirecard recently partnered with TON Labs in an effort to develop a joint digital financial services, payments and banking platform.
