(Yicai Global) Nov. 7 -- German mobile payment provider Wirecard will acquire a majority stake in AllScore Payment Services, a Chinese firm that has a set of cross-border payments licenses, to offer services to clients in China.

Wirecard will pay up to EUR72.4 million (USD81.3 million) for an 80 percent stake in AllScore, after which it will have a call option to purchase the rest for EUR20.2 million in two years, the Aschheim-based company said in a statement on Nov. 5. The buyout is still pending regulatory approvals.

The deal would allow Wirecard to settle payments in Chinese yuan and issue payment cards to consumers and companies in China. This would widen international merchants' access to the Chinese market, the statement suggested. 

The controlling stake of Beijing-based AllScore, founded in 2007, is held by its founder and Chief Executive Yao Lin and Shanghai's Aiwu Investment Management.

In the first half of this year, Wirecard's revenue climbed by more than one-third to EUR1.2 billion (USD1.3 billion) from a year ago and driven by its strong performance, the firm's market cap has exceeded that of Deutsche Bank, standing at EUR15 billion today.

Editor: Emmi Laine