Independent ATM operator Cardpoint has agreed the acquisition of 816 off-site cash machines from UK bank HBOS for £75 million.
The acquisition is the first substantial estate to be sold by a bank or a building society to an independent operator and it will establish Cardpoint as the market leader, both in terms of number of fully managed cash machines and by number of transactions, within the independent market place.
The HBOS remote estate is predominantly located in mature locations and generates average transaction volumes ten times higher than the existing Cardpoint estate.
Unlike Cardpoint, HBOS does not charge cardholders, but instead generates revenues through interchange fees payable by the cardholder’s bank or building society.
Cardpoint currently levies an average charge of £1.66 per withdrawal and says it will seek to convert "a proportion" of the HBOS machines to the Cardpoint model, resulting in "the generation of materially higher revenues than have historically been generated by the HBOS remote estate".
Cardpoint intends to finance the acquisition via a £35 million placing and open offer and £25 million in debt financing by the Bank of Scotland.
Confirmation of the agreement comes as the firm releases its interim financial statement detailing turnover of £13.8 million (2003: £2.9 million) for the half year to end-March 2004, and gross profits of £3.8 million compared with £0.4 million, in the year earlier period, including previously acquired businesses. Operating losses from continuing operations during the period more than doubled to £0.78 million from £0.38 million.