Payments firm Nomu Pay is acquiring Wirecard's Asia-Pacific entities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand for an undisclosed sum.

Venture capital firm Finch Capital, which backs Nomu Pay, said yesterday that it expected to complete the transactions next month for Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong and "later in the year" for the Philippines.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that Nomu Pay was also set to buy Wirecard's regional data warehouse in Singapore. It noted that an "Indonesian group's technology holding company" has bought the Wirecard unit in the country.

News of Wirecard selling its Asia-Pacific operations comes after the beleaguered German firm collapsed into insolvency last June after it was forced to admit that around €1.9 billion (S$3 billion) in its accounts did not exist.

Its entities here were ordered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to cease payment services and return all customer funds by Oct 14 last year, in turn affecting thousands of merchants that were users of its payment terminals.

Finch Capital's statement yesterday said the acquisition of Wirecard's Asia-Pacific entities is part of Nomu Pay's strategy to build a leading unified payment company in high-growth customer segments in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

It added that these acquisitions will enable Nomu Pay to be active in five countries, with access to "markets of 300 million people and a GDP (gross domestic product) equal to that of India".

Finch Capital managing partner Hans de Back said: "With this acquisition, we hope to play a substantial role in the next frontier of the region's payments infrastructure."

THE BUSINESS TIMES