Fiserv Hires a Former Mellon Exec For Mergers and Acquisitions Team

Beefing up its crack merger and acquisition team, bank systems outsourcer Fiserv Inc. announced last week it has hired a former Mellon Bank Corp. executive.

Aaron M. Edelstein has joined Milwaukee-based Fiserv as corporate senior vice president for mergers and acquisitions, officials said. He will report to senior executive vice president Kenneth R. Jensen, who heads up the M&A unit along with his duties as Fiserv's chief financial officer.

Previously a corporate vice president at Mellon, Mr. Edelstein led the acquisition team at the Pittsburgh bank that acquired Boston Co. in 1993 for $1.4 billion, Fiserv officials said. He also worked in Mellon's wholesale banking and operations-services units.

George Dalton, Fiserv's chairman and chief executive, said Mr. Edelstein was a much-needed addition to the company's always-busy M&A team, which has made dozens of acquisitions in the past 10 years. One of Fiserv's biggest M&A prizes was Mellon's bank outsourcing business, which the firm purchased in 1994 for $52 million.

Mr. Dalton said Fiserv hired Mr. Edelstein because even though the number of bank outsourcing companies has shrunk, the stream of potential deals has yet to dry up. "Our continued growth has kept Fiserv alert to opportunities to gain key managerial and merger/acquisition expertise," Mr. Dalton said. "Aaron's background in managing merger and acquisition activities ... adds increased depth in knowledge and experience to the Fiserv management team."

Prior to his tenure at Mellon, Mr. Edelstein was a consultant and data processing auditor at Deloitte Haskins & Sells and Price Waterhouse. He holds an M.B.A from the University of Pittsburgh and is a graduate of Point Park College.

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