Innova Capital, a private equity firm focused on investment in in Central and Eastern Europe, has acquired a majority stake in NETOPIA Group one of the longest-established payment service providers in Romania.Â
Innova Capital, a private equity firm focused on investment in in Central and Eastern Europe, has acquired a majority stake in NETOPIA Group one of the longest-established payment service providers (PSP) in Romania.
NETOPIA currently provides services to more than 25,000 merchants, mostly in the SME sector, and is responsible for processing 25% of the country’s online card transactions. NETOPIA also operates MobilPay Wallet – Romania’s first multifunctional digital wallet, which facilitates payments at thousands of online and offline locations. In addition, the company is a specialist in SMS payment services, a popular way of settling online micro-transactions.
The NETOPIA Group deal, which is subject to approvals from the relevant authorities, is the first transaction by the Innova/7 fund, which held its first close in August 2022 at over €220 million.
The majority stake in NETOPIA Group is not Innova Capital’s first investment in Romania – the firm already holds a stake in PayPoint Romania, an operator of consumer payment terminals.
