Private equity firm Advent International is merging portfolio companies Transaction Services Group and Clearent, paving the way to another payments giant.
The new company will be renamed Xplor Technologies, according to a statement Thursday. The two businesses processed more than $27 billion in payments and catered to about 82,000 businesses operating across 158 countries in 2020, it said.
The deal follows a flurry of combinations in the global payments sector. The new entity combines an enterprise software offering for businesses in sectors such as education and health with payments processing.
The new company will be valued at $3 billion including debt, said a person familiar with the matter.
Advent has been playing a major role in the payments sector over the past decade. It bought a stake in Fifth Third Bancorp’s payment unit, Worldpay and acquired Nets and the predecessor of Italy’s Nexi. Last year Nets and Nexi merged with Italy’s SIA, creating Europe’s biggest payments firm.
Clearent’s Chief Executive Officer Pamela Joseph will serve as executive chairman of Xplor and TSG’s Floris de Kort will serve as CEO. The company will be headquartered in Atlanta.
Clearent, a U.S.-based credit card processing company, counts small and medium-sized businesses as clients. It provides software for secured payments, business loans and reporting tools.
New Zealand-based TSG, a provider of software and payment systems, serves businesses such as insurance, health, fitness as well theme parks with subscription models.
Advent invested in the Clearent in 2018 and TSG in 2019, its website shows.
“Building on our success in creating other payment industry leaders, we are excited to form this platform to drive continued organic and inorganic growth globally,” said Advent’s managing partner Jeff Paduch in the statement.
Macquarie advised TSG while CITI was financial advisor to Clearent. Proton Partners advised Advent and Xplor. Goldman Sachs and UBS helped on the financing of the deal.
