Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised AnaCap Financial Partners (AnaCap), the specialist European financial services private equity firm, on the acquisition of a majority stake in online payment company Heidelberger Payment GmbH (Heidelpay).

Completion of the deal is subject to approval by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the German Central Bank and the Luxembourg Financial Supervisory Authority.

Founded in 2003, Heidelpay is a full-service PSP that facilitates payment acceptance on behalf of online merchants. The platform is 100% proprietary, serving more than 14,500 primarily online businesses across the DACH and Benelux regions, and processes transactions across more than 200 payment methods, covering online, mobile and point-of-sale channels.

Heidelpay operates in a fast-growing market driven by the continued expansion of global e-commerce. Processed volumes globally are estimated to grow by around 17% a year and are likely to reach close to €4 trillion by 2019, while the addressable market in Europe alone is estimated to be around €154 billion at present.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Europe head of private equity Richard Bull and Munich corporate partner Frank Henkel. They were supported by their teams in London, Munich and Frankfurt.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised AnaCap on a number of transactions across Europe in recent years, including the recent sale of Simply Business (one of the leading online insurance distributors in the UK).