Worldline Completes India Exit as Divestment Programme Reshapes Balance Sheet

Worldline sells India ops to BillDesk for €60M, keeps tech tie-up; shares jump 13% as leverage drops below 2x.

The French payments group has drawn a line under its direct presence in India, sealing the sale of its local operations to rival BillDesk in a deal that marks one of the final pieces of a sweeping portfolio overhaul. The transaction, confirmed on Monday, values the Indian business at an equity level of roughly €60 million, with an enterprise value of approximately €37 million attached to the division.

What makes the handover notable is not merely the price tag, but the structure that follows it. Worldline is exiting operational control while keeping a foothold through a long-term technology and software agreement, ensuring BillDesk continues to run on the group's payments platform. The company's artificial intelligence centres in India remain part of its global IT infrastructure, preserving the country as an innovation hub even as the local operations are removed from the group's accounts.

The divested Indian activities generated annual revenue of around €90 million and contributed approximately €8 million in adjusted EBITDA. The transaction is expected to be neutral for free cash flow, while the deconsolidation will moderately reduce both revenue and adjusted operating profit at group level.

Monday brought a second closing as well: the sale of Worldline's 51 percent stake in the ANZ Worldline joint venture to the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. That deal, valued at A$89 million for the stake, transfers roughly 270 employees to the Australian lender.

Together, the transactions form part of a broader disposal programme that also includes previously announced exits in North America. Management expects combined net cash proceeds from all planned divestments to land between €590 million and €640 million during 2026. The influx has already helped push net debt down to approximately €1.165 billion, bringing the leverage ratio below two times operating profit earlier than anticipated — a milestone that analysts had flagged as critical for restoring investor confidence.

The market response was immediate. Shares in the company climbed 13.31 percent on Monday to €13.81, extending a seven-day gain of 41.02 percent. The rally has pushed the relative strength index to 74.6, a level that technically signals short-term overbought conditions.

For the full year 2026, management has held its guidance steady, targeting EBITDA of between €630 million and €650 million. Free cash flow is expected to remain negative, but losses should be capped at €60 million at most.

Investors will now turn their attention to the third-quarter revenue figures, scheduled for release on 27 October, to gauge how the streamlined group is performing across its remaining core markets. The success of the "North Star 2030" transformation plan, which aims to drive profitability through the newly simplified structure, will ultimately determine whether the recent share price recovery has further room to run. Analysts currently rate the stock a "Buy" with a price target of €17.20.