NCR Inks $2.5 Billion Acquisition Deal For Cardtronics At $39 Share Price

NCR inked a $2.5 billion all-cash deal to acquire Cardtronics for $39 per share.

“This transaction accelerates the NCR-as-a-Service strategy we laid out at Investor Day in December, further shifts NCR’s revenue mix to software, services and recurring revenue, and adds value for our customers,” Michael D. Hayford, president and CEO of NCR, said in a press release on Monday (Jan. 25). 

Hayford added that the deal stems from NCR’s longtime relationship with Cardtronics and its team, calling its no-surcharge Allpoint network “highly complementary to NCR’s payments platform.” The combined company aims to facilitate easier connections between retail and banking customers.

A non-bank ATM operator, Cardtronics also offers managed services and payment processing to banks and merchants. NCR is a software- and services-led enterprise provider in the financial, retail and hospitality verticals. The tie-up, leveraging Cardtronics’ extensive network, gives NCR further inroads to the payments ecosystem.

Edward H. West, Cardtronics CEO, said the company’s acquisition by NCR “is a testament” to Cardtronics and shows “the complementary nature of our two businesses.” West also noted that its board of directors feels the deal is “in the best interest of Cardtronics and our shareholders.”

Cardtronics will become a privately held company after the deal is finalized, and its common shares won’t be listed on any public market. The deal is expected to close in mid-year 2021.

The combined company will aim for $100-$120 million in “run rate operating cost synergies” by the end of next year, according to the release. With committed financing by Bank of America, NCR is moving to finalize the transaction with cash on hand. 

BofA Securities is serving as financial advisor to NCR and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal counsel. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to Cardtronics, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Ashurst LLP is serving as legal counsel.

NCR moved to acquire Cardtronics last week following acquisition talks with Apollo Global Management and Hudson Executive Capital. That deal was reported to be $35 a share. NCR paid the termination fee of $32.6 million in accordance with the terms of the acquisition agreement.