SIA acquires Emmecom and launches new network services for European banks and merchants

SIA has acquired 51% of the share capital of Emmecom, an Italian company in the sector of fixed, mobile and satellite telecommunications networks, with the right to exercise the option for the purchase of the remaining 49% of the capital as of 2016. 

The operation is part of SIA’s strategic plan, which aims to develop the core activities also through extraordinary operations. In particular, the acquisition of Emmecom represents for SIA a further opportunity for growth and expansion in cards markets and in new high added value connectivity services.

“In line with our development strategy, we set our sights on the acquisition of a high-tech company like Emmecom which adds a new element to the network of excellence that lies at the heart of SIA – commented Massimo Arrighetti, CEO of SIA – From today, banks and businesses have at their disposal a new family of innovative services which will soon be available at European level and will go to join SEPA payments, e-money and access to the principal stock markets, all with a single, ultra-fast connection”.

Founded in 2000 and with a turnover of over €10 million in 2012, Emmecom will enable SIA to become a major player in Europe in the last mile of cards payments (“transaction collection”). According to the market trends recorded by the European Central Bank, transactions with electronic money are growing by an average of 9% per annum and at the same time there is a strong demand from merchants for solutions to manage the POS terminals at their outlets and elsewhere, using in a flexible manner all the connection channels available (dial up, GPRS and IP), plus the most recent technologies such as near field communication (NFC).

SIA’s objective is to create a single technology infrastructure operative at European level, capable of simplifying communication between merchants and banks. This platform will gather the traffic of cards payments generated by the multi-channel POS terminals and deliver it securely and reliably to the authorization systems of banks, terminal handlers and other acquirers. Via a web portal (accessible also by tablet), it will also be possible to keep under constant control the flow of transactions managed through the various connection channels, producing detailed statistics and reports on the operations of all the POS terminals.

The SIA infrastructure will be available from and to every European country and will thus permit banks and merchants with a strong international inclination to rationalize the various domestic networks for the collection of POS payments and also foster the development of new initiatives in the geographic areas reached by the SIA network.

The acquisition of Emmecom will additionally enable SIA to develop and launch new network solutions for remote monitoring based on 2M (“machine to machine”) technology: A market with great growth potential which, according to analysts, could climb to a value of over €44 billion in 2020 from the approximately €4.4 billion in 2011.

Thanks to the innovation and success of wireless technology, M2M allows various devices such as, for example, sensors, probes, video cameras, etc. to be controlled remotely and the automatic transmission of status reports with ever-lower latency to central points for the collection and handling of information.

The fields of application of “machine to machine” technology are numerous and range from security to geo-location, from transport to healthcare, from energy to telemetry, up to the supply chain of companies. Through the SIA infrastructure, for example, it will be possible to enable remote monitoring of bank branches to assist private security firms. Alternatively, within the framework of so-called “smart grids”, it will be possible to manage the real time reporting of information relating to the production of renewable energy to balance the output of traditional power stations in order to distribute energy efficiently.

Giuliano Preda, CEO of Emmecom, will remain in his current position in order to ensure the continuity of the business and know-how, at the same time developing and implementing the 2013-2016Strategic Plan.

Andrea Galeazzi, currently Director Network Services at SIA, becomes the Chairman of Emmecom.

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