(By Balaseshan) Euronet Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT) said its Ukrainian subsidiary has agreed to buy ATMs from UkrSibbank, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and the third largest bank in the Ukraine.
Euronet Ukraine LLC will purchase 172 ATMs from UkrSibbank. The acquisition follows the November 2011 purchase of 116 ATMs from UkrSibbank and doubles Euronet's presence in the market.
This contract includes a seven year agreement for the bank's participation in Euronet's shared network, which provides the bank's customers the ability to use Euronet ATMs under the same terms and conditions as the ATMs of their own bank.
The agreement with UkrSibbank also expands Euronet's geographic footprint in the country from Kiev to the other five largest cities in Ukraine.
Euronet operates the only shared ATM network in Ukraine and has contracts with five leading Ukrainian banks for network participation. The newly acquired ATMs are in convenient, high traffic, off-bank-premise locations and will be integrated into Euronet's network.
The expansion of this partnership with UkrSibbank demonstrates Euronet's continued success in executing its strategy to consolidate banks' off-premise ATMs to an independently deployed and shared network model.
"This partnership reflects a growing global trend of banks consolidating their ATM Networks. Our bank customers benefit from lower operating costs while their customers benefit from access to a wider ATM network as well as to an extended set of value added services," said Nikos Fountas, Vice President and Managing Director of Euronet's EFT Europe Division.
EEFT is trading down 0.19% at $19.92 on Monday. The stock has been trading between $15.62 and $22.50 for the past 52 weeks.