Moneybookers' private equity backer has received approaches to buy their stake following the strong growth the company has experienced, a company spokesperson confirmed. The Financial Times reported that Investcorp, the Bahrain-based private equity group, has put Moneybookers, the online payments provider, up for sale and appointed JPMorgan to handle the process.
The newspaper reported that early discussions with potential buyers of Moneybookers, which made 34m euros in revenues and earnings of 18.7m euros in 2008, have suggested a price of 400m euros.
eBay integrated Moneybookers into its U.S. website late last month. In a press release announcing earnings on Monday, Martin Ott, Co-CEO, said:
"As one of Europe's fastest growing and most profitable internet companies we have more than doubled our profits every year, becoming as a result the largest and fastest growing eWallet after Paypal. 2008 has continued this story, with growth across all areas of the business and some excellent new partnerships with the likes of Ricardo, MTV Networks Germany and Thomas Cook. 2009 has started extremely well, building on this success, with the launch of Moneybookers USA and the integration as a payment option on eBay.com."
http://www.moneybookers.com
