Europe’s payments industry saw a rise of 32.3 per cent in overall deal activity during the third quarter, when compared to the four-quarter average, according GlobalData.

The market analysis firm’s database showed a total of 41 deals worth $5.93 billion were announced for the region during the third quarter this year, against the last four-quarter average of 31 deals.

Of all the deal types, venture financing saw most activity during the period, with 26, representing a 63.4 per cent share for the region. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) followed with 11 deals, then private equity deals with four transactions – respectively capturing a 26.8 per cent and 9.8 per cent share of the overall deal activity for the quarter.

In terms of value of deals, M&A was the leading category in Europe’s payments industry with $4.36 billion, while private equity and venture financing deals totalled $1.18 billion and $390.9 million, respectively.

The top five payments deals accounted for 95.2 per cent of the overall value during the third quarter of 2019. The combined value of the top five payments deals stood at $5.65 billion, against the overall value of $5.93 billion recorded for the quarter.

The top five payments industry deals during the last quarter, tracked by GlobalData, were:

1. Mastercard’s $3.18 billion asset transaction with Nets.
2. Worldline’s $1.17 billion acquisition of a minority stake in equensWorldline.
3. KKR’s $666.27 million private equity deal with Heidelpay.
4. Klarna’s $460 million private equity raise from BlackRock, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Dragoneer Investment Group, HMI Capital, IPGL and Merian Chrysalis Investment.
5. N26’s $170 million fund raise from Allianz X, Earlybird Venture Capital, Greyhound Capital Europe, Insight Venture Partners, Tencent and Valar Ventures Management.

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