As a reminder, this operation marks the final stage of the approximately 500 million euro fundraising announced during its Investor Day on November 6, 2025. It follows a reserved capital increase of approximately 108 million euros subscribed by Bpifrance Participations, Crédit Agricole, and BNP Paribas, which was finalized on March 10.

The rights issue will involve the issuance of 1,939,508,682 new shares at a subscription price of 0.202 euros per new share, fully paid up upon subscription, representing gross proceeds of approximately 392 million euros.

The subscription period for the new shares will run from March 17 to March 27 inclusive, while the trading period for the preferential subscription rights (DPS) will take place from March 13 to March 25. Each right will entitle its holder to subscribe to six new shares on an irreducible basis at the subscription price of 0.202 euros per new share.

Bpifrance Participations, Crédit Agricole, and BNP Paribas have committed to subscribing to a total amount of approximately 135 million euros on an irreducible basis by exercising their rights in proportion to their shareholdings, with an additional 29 million euros potentially available for the operation.

Furthermore, Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel has agreed to acquire all rights held by SIX Group AG and has committed to exercising them on an irreducible basis to subscribe to 179,121,174 new shares for an amount of approximately 36 million euros.

Invest Securities advises against subscribing...

As Worldline launches its capital increase, Invest Securities is advising investors not to subscribe and to sell their rights. The firm has also lowered its price target from 0.90 euros to 0.22 euros to account for the effective dilution of the operation.

"While the amount is no surprise, the price of the operation is excessively low (0.202 euros, an 87% discount to the last closing price), which will lead to massive dilution far exceeding our estimates (2,262 million shares post-operation versus the 730 million expected)," the firm warned.

"This price forces current shareholders to subscribe, but we struggle to find any appeal in the operation," the analyst continued, though noting that Worldline is strengthening its shareholder base with the participation of Crédit Mutuel.

...but AlphaValue views the move positively

"Worldline is moving forward with its recovery by launching the second phase of its capital increase," AlphaValue commented. While acknowledging that the price was set lower than expected, the firm highlighted that the move is solidly backed by its anchor shareholders.

According to the broker, the operation will allow management to focus on the business turnaround and the implementation of the North Star 2030 strategic plan. It continues to view Worldline as "a risky but attractive restructuring case, whose assets hold substantial hidden value."