Worldline, a French payments company, plans to cut eight per cent of its workforce to save money. The firm is hoping to save about $215 million and grow stronger in the future. Therefore, it has started discussing with unions about these job cuts.
With 18,000 employees in 40 countries, Worldline anticipates that about 1,400 workers will be affected by the layoffs. This decision to cut staff comes after the company faced financial difficulties in January 2024.
In October 2023, the company reduced its sales expectations due to tough economic conditions in Europe. This move led to a 57 per cent drop in Worldline’s stock and erased nearly $4 billion in market value.
Worldline specialises in payment and transactional services. Its offerings cover merchant services, terminals, solutions and services, financial services, and mobility and e-transactional services. These services encompass domestic and international commercial acquiring, secure payment processing for both in-store and online transactions, a diverse range of payment terminals, as well as e-ticketing and digital solutions meant for industrial environments.
In November 2023, there were rumours that private equity investors may want to buy Worldline, which raised its stock price again. To regain investor trust, Worldline worked with Morgan Stanley and Rothschild & Co. to explore options, such as finding a big investor to help the stock and asking French banks and pension funds if they wished to buy a small part of the company. Credit Agricole, a French bank, recently bought seven per cent of Worldline.
