WEX Strikes Noventis Acquisition Deal

Commercial payments company WEX is looking to expand its offering by acquiring one of its partners, Noventis.

A press release this week said WEX will acquire the company, which already uses WEX to provide virtual cards that can enable payment on the Noventis electronic payments network. In its announcement, WEX said the takeover — agreed upon for an undisclosed sum — will enable it to enhance its offering to financial institutions (FIs), accounts payable (AP) software providers and billing aggregators as a corporate payments supplier.

The companies expect to close the deal in the first half of the year, subject to regulatory approval.

“The purchase of Noventis is an important element in expanding WEX’s corporate payments business,” said Jay Dearborn, WEX president of corporate payments, in a statement. “This acquisition will complement WEX’s current offerings with new payment delivery capabilities that enhance AP payments and provide seamless delivery of electronic payments. We are excited to build upon Noventis’ offerings in the United States, which will position us to innovate and provide solutions to our partners and customers.”

In August, WEX posted positive second-quarter stats, including a 22 percent year-over-year increase in revenues, driven largely by higher fuel prices that boosted the company’s core fleet payment operations. However, the company said at the time that payment processing activity also increased during the quarter, with its core business payments offering growing 20 percent year over year, according to CEO Melissa Smith.

Last year, Noventis positioned itself closer to small business (SMB) payers when the company announced it would enable its FI and payment processing clients to link their SMB customers to virtual card capabilities.

“Until now, most small businesses have not been able to take advantage of the virtual card solutions that have been widely available to medium and large businesses,” Noventis said at the time, adding that it removed barriers for small firms to access virtual card solutions “by developing innovative digital payment options and expanding the number of suppliers that accept electronic payments in the Noventis network.”