Payment Alliance International today announced it has acquired Comdata Processing Systems’ merchant-processing business, which includes 5,000 merchant locations and more than 50 independent sales organizations.
Existing Comdata clients will have access to Louisville, Ky.-based Payment Alliance International’s products and services under the agreement. Payment Alliance intends to retain “the majority” of Comdata personnel at its operations in Louisville and Brentwood, Tenn., according to the company.
“It might be a good time to be acquiring a merchant portfolio,” says Adil Moussa, an analyst with Boston-based Aite Group LLC. The difficult economy likely has reduced the value, and therefore the cost, of many portfolios, he says.
However, there likely are a higher number of merchants in poor financial standing among portfolios as well, says Moussa. “It’s a good time to buy, but you have to be careful about what you are buying,” he says.
Comdata Processing Systems is a subsidiary of Stored Value Solutions, a Louisville-based provider of gift card products and services. Payment Alliance serves more than 60,000 customers nationwide.
Representatives from both companies did not return requests for comment.
