Mastercard to buy part of payments company Nets for $3.19 billion

(Reuters) - Payments processor Mastercard Inc <MA.N> said on Tuesday it would buy a majority of the corporate services businesses of Scandinavian payments group Nets for about 2.85 billion euros (2.6 billion pounds), furthering its push into the Nordic markets.

The acquisition includes the clearing and instant payment services, and e-billing solutions of Nets' corporate services business.

Growth in payment systems has kept deals rolling, even as merger moves in other sectors have stalled on concerns over trade tensions and a global economic slowdown.

The acquisition will be complementary to Mastercard Send and Transfast technologies that deliver cross-border payments to bank accounts, mobile wallets and cards, Mastercard said.

The financial technology sector is consolidating fast, with global payments set to reach $3 trillion a year in revenue by 2023 as more people switch from cash to digital payments for online and high street sales, consulting firm McKinsey predicted.

The deal will be dilutive for up to 24 months after the deal's closing, which is expected in the first half of 2020, Mastercard said.

(Reporting by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)