ATLANTA -- Continuing its international expansion, Equifax Inc. has announced new investments in South America and Europe.
The Atlanta-based consumer information company signed a letter of intent to buy a 25% interest in Dicom SA, a leading data base operation in Chile, and it took a controlling interest in Transax PLC, Europe's largest check authorization company.
Equifax, which had $1.2 billion of revenue last year, has been increasing its international presence in areas related to core U.S. businesses, including credit reporting, credit card processing, check services, and health care information.
CEO's Statement
It recently announced an agreement to acquire FBS Software, an Atlanta-based provider of credit card systems, in part because of its international clientele.
"The need for information services and solutions is truly global, and Equifax is on the leading edge in working closely with more and more partners in the international community to fill that need," said C.B. Rogers Jr., chairman and chief executive officer.
Dicom has eight product lines including commercial, financial, and medical information. The company handles five million information requests monthly from more than 20,000 users throughout Chile, and had 1993 sales exceeding $13 million. Transax, which handled $2 billion of check volume and had $30 million of revenue in its latest fiscal year, had been 20% owned by Equifax since 1992. Equifax has increased that share to 50.1%.
Transax is based in Birmingham, England, and provides services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand. The company is complementary to Equifax Check Services, the former Telecredit Inc. check authorization and guarantee operation in Tampa, Fla.
