Mon, 25 Feb 2013 | BUSINESS SALE
The online payments provider and rival to Paypal, Skrill, is being prepared for a sale.
Skrill, which owns the Moneybookers brand, is expected to achieve up to £600 million in a sale. It has been in the hands of Investcorp, the Middle Eastern investment house, for the past six years. It is thought the firm has called in advisors to help with a sale.
London-based Skrill has 33 million account holders, who use the service to buy and sell goods safely, and to transfer money online.
Moneybookers was founded in 2001 by Daniel Klein and Benjamin Kullmann, and pioneered in gaining an electronic money licence from the Financial Services Authority. The businessmen later sold a 51 per cent holding to Investcorp in 2007. The deal valued the business at £85 million.
The new owners changed the name of the business to Skrill, which is slang for money, and it has since become one of the fastest growing private firms in Britain, thanks to the rise in consumers using the internet to make payments and manage their money.
About 135,000 merchants - ranging from small businesses to very large ones such as Facebook, eBay, and Skype - use the service to secure their customers’ purchases. Skrill has customers in 200 countries, and offers them use of over 100 payment options and 40 currencies.
Skrill’s customers can make online payments while not showing any personal financial information, and send and receive money by only using an email address.
This will be the third time that Investcorp will have attempted to dispose of Skrill. It had tried to sell the company in 2009 for £400 million and then in 2010 a proposal for a £500 million float was put on the backburner.
_________________________________________________________
Recent news:
Luton, Cardiff and Belfast airports up for sale
MetLife confirms UK business for sale
For sale is a long-established tree surgery and arboricultural services business with an excellent reputation, serving both domestic and commercial sectors across Southern England, including the Home Counties and London.
An opportunity has arisen to acquire a mechanical engineering company specialising in the Water Industry. Benefitting from over 3 decades of trading, this business has built a solid and long standing client base comprised of prominent UK utility comp...
An opportunity has arisen to acquire a reputable IT support and development services provider with a UK-wide client base and a proven record for innovation and resilience in the constantly evolving IT sector. Throughout its 25+ year trading history,...
Please choose your settings for this site below. For more information please read our Cookie Policy
These cookies are necessary for our website to function properly and provide you with access to all features.
These are analytics cookies that help us to improve the way our website works.
These are used to improve the functional performance of the website and make it easier for you to use.