Parts of way-too-fraud-y German payments company Wirecard are being sold off in the U.K. and Brazil, according to the Financial Times:
The break-up of the collapsed German payments company Wirecard has started after it agreed to sell the remnants of its UK business to Railsbank, a UK start-up backed by Visa, and sold its Brazilian offshoot.
The UK deal, which is expected to be completed in November, would involve Railsbank taking on Wirecard’s UK payment card technology, clients and some staff. It was first reported by Sifted, an FT associate title.
Railsbank declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal. Wirecard would require written consent from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to sell its UK operations. A person close to the regulator said it was not clear whether permission had yet been granted.
If the sale is approved, Railsbank will be getting Wirecard’s U.K. subsidiary, Wirecard Card Solutions, which FT said issued prepaid cards and processed payments for other financial startups that did not yet have the necessary licences.
But WCS’s largest clients have already jumped ship or are planning to bolt after regulators temporarily shut WCS down after its parent company’s administration in June, according to FT. So Railsbank would just be getting a skeleton crew of WCS’s former clients at this point.
Wirecard’s Brazilian business is expected to be sold to PagSeguro Digital, a Brazilian fintech company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Wirecard break-up begins as it sells off UK and Brazil businesses [Financial Times]
