First Data to Buy Poland's Polcard

First Data International, a unit of First Data Corp., will buy Polish credit-card company Polcard SA for $325 million, as the unit continues to push into fast-growing Central and Eastern European markets.

The agreement is expected to close in the second quarter.

Polcard, based in Warszawa, Poland, has the largest network of electronic card acceptance devices in Poland, including more than 58,000 terminals and 1,700 ATMs, First Data said. Founded in 1990, Polcard processes around 170 million banking client transactions per year at its local authorization and clearing center. It had a 2006 revenue of $44 million.

Polcard is owned by Innova Capital, a private equity firm, and GTECH, a gaming technology and payment services company that is owned by Lottomatica SpA, one of the world's largest commercial lottery operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry.

First Data International has approximately 7,900 employees and operates across Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Canada, Australia and Asia-Pacific. First Data serves 4.9 million merchant locations and 1,900 card issuers and their customers.

First Data manages more than 11 million cards in Central Europe. First Data International opened an office in Poland earlier this year, and has a local management team in place to help integrate Polcard into First Data, the company said.

Poland is the largest market of the recent countries to join the European Union, with a population of 39 million, a strong and growing economy and a rapidly developing electronic cards market, First Data said.

Source:forbes.com