US: Francisco Partners completes US$3.4b Verifone acquisition

Verifone Systems announced that it has been acquired by an investor group, led by technology firm Francisco Partners.

The US$3.4 billion acquisition, previously announced in April, closed and became effective on Monday, August 20. Other investors included Canadian firm British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI). Qatalyst Partners is serving as financial advisor to Verifone.

As part of the acquisition, Pace CEO Mike Pulli will be Verifone’s new CEO. Former Chief Executive Officer Paul Galant resigned shortly after the impending deal was announced. Galant will continue to serve on Verifone’s board as vice chairman. He will also become a senior advisor to Francisco Partners on payment strategies and opportunities.

“The closing of this transaction represents a new and exciting chapter for Verifone as we seek to continue the transformation of Verifone from a terminal sales company to a leading provider of payments and commerce solutions,” said Mike Pulli, incoming CEO of Verifone, in a press release. “Francisco Partners brings deep industry expertise in payments technology, systems and software that will help Verifone execute on its vision for the future. Together, we look forward to leveraging and further accelerating Verifone’s technology to drive value for Verifone’s merchant customers and channel partners around the world.”

Francisco Partners has raised more than US$14 billion in committed capital, and invested in more than 200 technology companies, since its launch over 18 years ago.

“Verifone’s payments technology is critical to the operation of merchants around the world. We are excited to build upon Verifone’s strong platform to continue to drive growth and bring additional capabilities to Verifone’s customers,” said Peter Christodoulo, partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to working with Mike and the Verifone team to strengthen the Verifone franchise and bring innovative payments and commerce solutions to Verifone’s customers.”

As part of the deal, Verifone stockholders received US$23.04 per share in cash. In addition, Verifone’s common stock is no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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