Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group have reached the initial closing in their acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) for $910 million, the two entities said in a press release Tuesday (March 1).
The deal, first announced in August of last year, will see WUBS rebranded as Convera, a new standalone B2B payments company. The buyers said in the release that WUBS/Convera had a record 2021, with revenue growth of more than 20% and payments volume of $170 billion.
Read more: WUBS to Be Rebranded Convera, Recruits Amazon Pay Exec as CEO
A part of the purchase, Patrick Gauthier, most recently the global head of Amazon Pay, will become as Convera’s CEO.
A FinTech specialist, Gauthier has also held leadership roles at PayPal and Visa and holds patents in the payments space. He is seen as a thought leader in the world of global commerce and payments.
“At Convera, our purpose is to make global payments so easy that every business around the world can grow with confidence,” he said in the release. “Convera combines the agility of a FinTech with the scale, sophistication, and breadth of capabilities of a global financial institution. We intend to bring innovation, value, and exceptional service to our customers with focused investments in our product offerings, technology, and people.”
Other new appointments to Convera’s leadership team include Andrew Summerill as chief financial officer; Dharmesh Syal as chief technology officer; Drew Weinstein as chief commercial officer; and Jody Visser as chief transformation officer.
Convera is the largest non-bank FinTech in global B2B payments, with capabilities in more than 140 currencies across more than 200 countries and territories, and over 60 global banking partners, according to the release. Convera’s customers include more than 30,000 small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), educational institutions, law firms financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The transaction is closing in two stages. The second closing, representing the business that is operated through Western Union International Bank in the European Union and the United Kingdom, is expected later this year, pending regulatory licenses and approvals.
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