Payments Software Firm Plans IPO for Expansion

Carreker-Antinori Inc., a prominent developer of bank payments software and services, has filed for an initial public offering.

The Dallas-based company, whose customers include two-thirds of the nation's 100 largest banks, will offer 5.1 million shares of stock at about $12 per share. (Monday's bank technology stock chart appears on page 14.)

The deal, which will be managed by BancAmerica Robertson Stephens LLC, Hambrecht & Quist LLC, and Lehman Brothers Inc., is expected to generate proceeds of about $36.5 million, according to a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The money will be used for general corporate purposes, acquisitions, and to expand internationally, according to the prospectus. No launch date has been set.

The company, which was created in a merger with Atlanta-based Antinori Software Inc. last year, sells float, liquidity management, and electronic check presentment software and services. It also wants to expand its market to include nonbank financial institutions, according to the prospectus.

The company had annual sales of $40.5 million through Jan. 31, and net income of $3 million. Revenues were up 39% from the prior year, and net income surged 117%.

Fleet Financial Group Inc. and Norwest Corp., Carreker-Antinori's two largest customers, contributed about 29% of total revenues. But the company's strength lies in its management and consulting business, which generates more than half its revenues.

The company has developed strong relationships with senior-level bankers who use its skills at cutting fraud losses and processing costs associated with check collection.

Carreker-Antinori has carved a unique niche in the banking industry's payments system. It manages the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization, or Eccho, a not-for-profit rulemaking trade group for interbank electronic check presentment. It earned $994,000 last year for managing that association, plus another $1.4 million for running Payment Solutions Network Inc., a for-profit company that processes ECP files and supports Eccho's initiatives.

At this time, Carreker-Antinori officials are prohibited by regulators from discussing the IPO. But a source familiar with the company said the deal would likely complement its Infiteq LLC endeavor, a venture it formed with Fiserv Inc., National Processing Co., and UPS World Wide Logistics.

Carreker-Antinori wants to strengthen its capital base before going "toe-to-toe" with its larger partners, said the source, who requested anonymity.

The members of Infiteq, a marketing concept announced last year, are pooling their products and resources to build a single source of cash management services for the banking industry.

Members have taken undisclosed equity stakes in Infiteq, which formally became a company in January, several months later than expected because of legal wrangling among the stakeholders.

"We have created an organizational structure that allows a bank to acquire services on a one-stop shopping basis," said Stephen Ward, senior vice president at Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv.

Infiteq expects to announce several new alliance partners and bank customers in late April. Carreker-Antinori will earn $45,000 per month for managing the company, according to the prospectus.

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