Payment processing and marketing company Dalenys has decided not to merge its telecoms division with another company, Chief Executive Thibaut Faurès Fustel de Coulanges told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Dalenys, which has been refocusing on its payment processing business, said in March it would create a joint venture for its telecoms division in which it would be the majority shareholder.

But the chief executive said on Tuesday the plan had been dropped after concerns about the valuation of its assets and difficulties reaching an agreement with minority shareholders of the unnamed other company.

"It was quite difficult to make everyone agree on the same deal on the same table," Faurès Fustel de Coulanges said.

Dalenys, which runs the payment processing platform Be2bill, reported a 49 percent increase in first-half revenue, driven by strong growth in its payments business, but saw its operating loss widen by 49 percent on a comparable basis as a result of increased operating expenses.

The company has been investing in its payment business and confirmed its target of 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) "run rate" in card transactions processed annually by 2018.

"If we do it in 2018, mostly in France, it means that we will be able to gain something like 8 percent to 10 percent of the acquiring business market share in France," Faurès Fustel de Coulanges said.

The company had a run rate of 1.9 billion euros of transactions processed at July 31. ($1 = 0.8956 euros) (Reporting by Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Editing by David Holmes).