Goltsblat BLP, the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), has advised Alfa-Bank on its acquisition of shares in a mobile acquiring operator working under the Pay-Me brand. The deal contemplated the early-stage investor shareholding transferred in its entirety to the bank.

Pay-Me is an acquiring service enabling businesses to accept VISA, MasterCard and MIR cards through the mPOS terminals and iOS, Android or Windows apps. Pay-Me technology is validated annually with a PCI DSS certificate, which is a key security certification in the payments industry.

This alliance will trigger a new product line offering for payment operations between businesses and customers. It will feature an Alfa-Kassa POS package, Pay-Me acquiring service, installation, set-up and maintenance of the equipment. Further investments will be made to drive the company’s development and its leadership in Russia, Kazakhstan and on other CIS markets.

The Goltsblat BLP Corporate / M&A team was led by Partner Anton Panchenkov, supported by Senior Associate Dimitri Antipin, Associate Dmitry Sheludyaev and Junior Associate Ragima Rashkueva.

Alexey Gashkov, Vice-President, Corporate Finance and Asset Investment, Alfa-Bank: “For Alfa-Bank, this is a strategic investment and a first step in a new direction, expanding our classic commercial and investment bank product line with a venture capital offering to push company development. We are buying into its share capital in order to collaborate on a strategy for building a better service ecosystem for SMEs. We are extremely pleased to have had Goltsblat BLP as our counsel; they demonstrated professional excellence and delivered sterling client service on the deal.”

Anton Panchenkov, Partner, Corporate/M&A, Goltsblat BLP: “We are delighted to have worked with Alfa-Bank on this challenging deal, which is of major importance for both our client and the entire fin-tech segment in Russia. We would like to thank Alfa-Bank for their trust in our firm and wish them every success in developing the Pay-Me project further.”