French payments company Worldline may have to offer concessions in order to get EU antitrust nod for the planned takeover of Ingenico, Reuters has reported.
In February, Worldline launched a €7.8bn ($9.23bn) bid to buy its peer Ingenico to form the fourth biggest payments outfit in the country.
However, this bid is subject to regulatory approvals, including the European Union (EU) antitrust regulatory approval.
The payments heavyweight needs to offer concessions to the European Commission, or convince the EU competition enforcer that this move is unnecessary, prior to the deadline.
Worldline has until 9 September 2020 to offer concessions to the Commission.
In the absence of concessions, the payments outfit may face a full-scale probe to clear the antitrust hurdles.
The Commission is set to approve or reject Worldline’s takeover bid for Ingenico by 16 September 2020.
In a statement, Worldline said: “We are pursuing the usual procedure of discussions with the Commission and the process is underway, within the expected timetable.”
The plan to buy Ingenico comes after the French IT company Atos divested from Worldline last year.
The deal, if approved, will create a company that will have an extended partnership with German savings banks.
Recently, Worldline acquired a 53% stake in GoPay, an Eastern European payments services provider.
