Warburg Pincus In Talks To Buy NCR

NCR, the payments company that makes self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals and automated teller machines, among other payment devices, has reportedly tapped Bank of America Equities to find a buyer.

Seeking Alpha, citing a DealReporter story, reported that Warburg Pincus has been in discussions with NCR during the past few weeks about a deal. Other private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management, have expressed interest. Warburg Pincus appears to be in the lead in terms of talks, given that NCR’s new management team has an existing relationship with the private equity firm.

This isn’t the first time talk of an NCR sale has surfaced this month. At the start of May, Bloomberg reported that the company had started exploring options after receiving interest from would-be suitors. At the time, it was said that NCR was working with a financial adviser. Investors reacted to the news at the time, sending the stock up to reach a value of $3.5 billion. If NCR’s debt was included, it would be valued at $7 billion.

Back in 2015, Blackstone Group acquired a minority stake in NCR after the ATM maker considered a leveraged buyout for the entire operation, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

For its first quarter, NCR was able to report earnings of $0.48 a share, which was higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.47 a share. In the year-ago first quarter, NCR weighed in with earnings of $0.56 a share, marking the fourth quarter in a row the company was able to beat analyst estimates. Revenue during its first quarter was also higher than expectations, coming in at $1.54 billion. In the year-ago first quarter, NCR had revenue of $1.52 billion.

During May, the company also inked a deal to acquire Texas P.O.S., a Houston-based provider of point-of-sale (POS) solutions for restaurants and merchants.