(3) PENDING ACQUISITION
In March 2021, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase the Piraeus Bank Merchant Acquiring business of Piraeus Bank for €300 million, or approximately $360 million. The proposed arrangement will include separate commercial agreements for a long-term strategic partnership with Piraeus Bank for collaborative product distribution, processing and customer referrals. The acquisition will expand the Company’s omnichannel payments strategy and position the Company in Greece’s growing market for merchant acquiring services. The closing is targeted for late 2021 and is subject to regulatory approvals, finalization of the commercial agreements, and customary closing conditions. The Company expects to finance the purchase price using cash on hand.
Of the total goodwill balance of $646.2 million as of September 30, 2021, $393.9 million relates to the Money Transfer Segment, $131.0 million relates to the epay Segment and the remaining $121.3 million relates to the EFT Processing Segment. Estimated amortization expense on acquired intangible assets with finite lives as of September 30, 2021, is expected to total $5.6 million for the remainder of 2021, $21.2 million for 2022, $16.3 million for 2023, $9.6 million for 2024, $6.3 million for 2025 and $6.2 million for 2026.
Nine Months Ended September 30,
16
(14) COMMITMENTS
The Company enters into operating leases for ATM sites, office spaces, retail stores and equipment. The Company's finance leases are immaterial. Right of use assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of the lease payments over the lease terms.
The present value of lease payments is determined using the incremental borrowing rate based on information available at the lease commencement date. The Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Most leases include an option to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease terms. The exercise of lease renewal options is at the Company’s sole discretion. The depreciable life of assets and leasehold improvements are limited by the expected lease terms. The Company also has a unilateral termination right for most of the ATM site leases. Since the Company is not reasonably certain not to exercise termination options, payments for ATM site leases with termination options subject to the short-term lease exemption are expensed in the period incurred and corresponding leases are excluded from the right of use lease asset and lease liability balances. Certain of the Company's lease agreements include variable rental payments based on revenues generated from the use of the leased location and certain leases include rental payments adjusted periodically for inflation. Variable lease payments are recognized when the event, activity or circumstance in the lease agreement on which those payments are assessed occurs and are excluded from the right of use assets and lease liabilities balances. The lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.
(1) Operating lease payments reflect the Company's current fixed obligations under the operating lease agreements. Certain ATM site leases contain termination options that grant the Company the option to terminate the lease prior to the stated term of the agreement. The Company includes the future minimum lease payments for these ATM site leases only to the extent that the termination option is not reasonably certain to be exercised.
EFT Processing Segment — Revenues in the EFT Processing Segment, which represented approximately 28% and 20% of total consolidated revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, are derived from fees charged for transactions made by cardholders on our proprietary network of ATMs, fixed management fees and transaction fees we charge to customers for operating ATMs and processing debit and credit cards under outsourcing and cross-border acquiring agreements, foreign currency exchange margin on DCC transactions, domestic and international surcharge, foreign currency dispensing and other value added services such as advertising, prepaid telecommunication recharges, bill payment, and money transfers provided over ATMs. Revenues in this segment are also derived from cardless payment, banknote recycling, tax refund services, license fees, professional services and maintenance fees for proprietary application software and sales of related hardware.
For all segments, our continued expansion may involve additional acquisitions that could divert our resources and management time and require integration of new assets with our existing networks and services. Our ability to effectively manage our growth has required us to expand our operating systems and employee base, particularly at the management level, which has added incremental operating costs. An inability to continue to effectively manage expansion could have a material adverse effect on our business, growth, financial condition or results of operations. Inadequate technology and resources would impair our ability to maintain current processing technology and efficiencies, as well as deliver new and innovative services to compete in the marketplace. COVID-19The outbreak of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has resulted in varying degrees of border and business closures, travel restrictions and other social distancing orders in most of the countries where we operate during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020. These types of orders were first put into effect in late February 2020 or early March 2020. As the number and rate of new cases has fluctuated in various locations around the global, the closures, restrictions and other social distancing orders have been modified, rescinded and/or re-imposed. Although vaccines for COVID-19 are widely available in the U.S. and the European Union, their availability is still limited in many parts of the world where we operate. In addition, the rate of acceptance and long term effectiveness of the vaccines, especially against new variants, are still unknown. The EFT Segment has experienced declines in certain transaction volumes due to these restrictions, especially high-margin cross-border transactions. The epay Segment has experienced the impacts of consumer movement restrictions in certain markets, while other markets have been positively impacted where we have a higher mix of digital distribution or a higher concentration of retailers that are deemed essential and have remained open during the pandemic. The Money Transfer Segment continues to be impacted by the pandemic-related restrictions in certain markets that limit customers' ability to access our network of company-owned stores and agents. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic driven impacts, we implemented several key measures to offset the impact across the business, including re-negotiating certain third party contracts, reducing travel, decreasing capital expenditures, and increasing the number of seasonal ATM deactivations (placing them in dormancy status, terminating, or re-negotiating) in more sites and more markets.
Revenues for the Nine Months Ended
September 30,
Gross profit, which is calculated as revenues less direct operating costs, was $120.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $59.4 million or 97% compared to $61.4 million for the same period in 2020. Gross profit was $169.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $33.4 million or 25% compared to $135.7 million for the same period in 2020. Gross profit as a percentage of revenues (“gross margin”) increased to 53.2% and 39.5% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, compared to 42.6% and 36.9% for the same periods in 2020, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the increase in gross profit and gross margin was primarily driven by the increase in cross-border transactions and overall increase in transaction volumes.
Money Transfer Segment operating income was $37.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021, a decrease of $10.1 million or 21% compared to the same period in 2020. Money Transfer Segment operating income was $117.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $102.3 million or 695% compared to the same period in 2020. Operating margin decreased to 10.6% and increased to 11.3% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, compared to 14.7% and 1.7% for the same periods in 2020, respectively. Operating income per transaction decreased to $1.10 and increased to $1.18 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, compared to $1.54 and $0.17 for the same periods in 2020, respectively. The decrease in operating income, operating margin and operating income per transaction for the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily driven by the increase in agent commissions and increase in headcount to support the growth of the business. The increase in operating income, operating margin and operating income per transaction for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily driven by the decrease in non-cash goodwill impairment charges, and an increase in transaction volume, specifically the higher margin transactions for U.S. outbound and international-originated money transfers, partially offset by the increase in agent commissions and increase in headcount to support the growth of the business. CORPORATE SERVICESThe following table presents the operating expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 for Corporate Services: