Worldline - comment

Here it is, the second leg of the highly dilutive capital raise, by way of rights issue for €392m, following the first round of €110m that was shared between Bpifrance, BNP and Credit Agricole. For reference, Market Cap this morning is only €460m, and tellingly, its largest shareholder, SIS Group, is not planning to subscribe. Worldline needs the cash to fund its turnaround plan, now that it operates on a smaller footing. The company employs about twice as many employees as its tech-based competitors, and over the next few years needs to shed approx. 1/3 of its workforce, which will be expensive in France and wipe out its cash flow for the foreseeable future. We will publish our updated analysis later today or tomorrow.