European payments giant Adyen reaffirms rejection of M&A, saying consolidation can be “very painful"

The Dutch payment giant Adyen today reaffirmed that the fintech was unlikely to pursue future growth through M&A, saying consolidation can be “very painful”.

Ingo Uytdehaage, Adyen co-CEO, was asked by an analyst, given falling fintech valuations, whether Adyen, which is famous for rejecting acquisitions as a growth strategy, would consider future acquisitions.

Uytdehaage said:

“We have always had an organic growth strategy, and the reason for this is that we strongly believe building the infrastructure ourselves gives us full control.”

He said consolidating platforms can be “very painful”, pointing to challenges like migrating customers and choosing which platform to terminate.

He added:

“Customers select us because of our performance and the fact that we have this full control."

That said, he said Adyen, one of Europe's most well known fintechs, was not "dogmatic" on ruling out future acquisitions.

Uytdehaage was speaking as Adyen reported net revenues of €913.4 million in the first half of 2024, up 24 per cent on the year.

According to Reuters, Adyen beat half-year core profit expectations driven by market share gains, reduced hiring rate and lower one-off expenses.

Shares in Adyen, which is listed in Amsterdam, were up five per cent.