US-based Advent International has agreed to acquire UK-based payments firm myPOS in a deal that’s expected to close by the end of 2023. The acquisition, facilitated through a newly established entity called Circle, marks Advent's strategic move into the expanding digital payments sector.

Specifically, the buyout group plans to improve Circle through additional acquisitions within the rapidly growing payments industry. The transaction, pending regulatory approvals, is slated for completion by the end of the year, and despite a current investor wariness towards the payments sector due to elevated valuations and global fintech funding decline post-COVID-19, Reuters reports that Advent remains active in pursuing opportunities. To be precise, payments buyouts in Europe by Advent comprise companies such as Vantiv, Worldpay, XPLOR, Planet, and Nexi.

Sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters estimate the acquisition to value myPOS at approximately EUR 500 million (USD 542.15 million). According to Advent representatives cited by Reuters, smaller merchants opt for alternatives due to affordability constraints associated with conventional bank-provided card reader machines. They emphasised the improved user experience offered by companies such as myPOS, namely faster onboarding, modern technology, and cost-effectiveness.

Officials from myPOS revealed that the company's founder will exit the business, while the management will retain involvement and investment. More information about myPOS Founded in 2012, myPOS serves 170,000 small businesses across various sectors in continental Europe, delivering payments processing tools along with business accounts, cards, lending, and other payment services. MyPOS, alongside counterparts such as PayPal Zettle and SumUp, targets customers overlooked by traditional banks.

In October 2023, myPOS introduced Tap-to-Pay on iPhone for businesses in the UK.  With this introduction, Tap-to-Pay became available within the myPOS Glass app and allowed merchants to accept contactless payments directly on their iPhones, without any additional hardware required. MyPOS clients with compatible phones, iPhone XS or later versions, gained the ability to accept contactless payments by downloading and opening the myPOS Glass app, ringing up the sale, and presenting their iPhone to the customer. On the other side, the shopper is only required to tap a contactless payment method such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets or contactless cards.

At the time, myPOS emphasised that all transactions are encrypted and secure, as business and customer payment data is safeguarded by the same technology that keeps Apple Pay private. For more information about myPOS, please check out their detailed profile in our dedicated, industry-specific Company Database. .