CHICAGO, Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GTCR, a leading private equity firm, announced today that Joe Kaplan has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Sage Payment Solutions, Inc. ("SPS" or the "Company"). In August 2017, GTCR completed the acquisition of SPS, a highly integrated payments technology company, from The Sage Group plc ("Sage"). GTCR is partnering with new CEO Joe Kaplan to pursue organic growth initiatives and M&A opportunities in the payment processing industry. To support this strategy, GTCR has committed up to $350 million of capital to the platform.
SPS, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, provides credit card, ACH, check, gift and loyalty card processing services to over 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses ("SMBs"). GTCR acquired SPS from Sage, a global provider of integrated accounting, payroll and payment solutions. SPS's payment solutions integrate with merchants' business management software solutions and enable them to securely accept electronic payments through multiple channels, including card-present, e-Commerce and mobile. Through the Company's Sage Payment Solutions EFT subsidiary, SPS offers specialized ACH processing services to merchants, processors and other businesses. SPS serves a diversified base of SMB clients including healthcare providers, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and accounting software companies.
In partnership with new CEO Joe Kaplan, GTCR will work to execute the carve-out from Sage and pursue growth initiatives and complementary acquisitions in the payments industry. In addition, GTCR and management intend to invest further in technology and offer innovative solutions to SPS customers and partners. Beginning in 2012, Mr. Kaplan served as the CEO of TMS, a leading merchant acquirer processing over $12 billion of volume annually, where he drove significant growth and value creation. Prior to joining TMS, Mr. Kaplan was the head of Intuit Inc.'s ("Intuit") payments division where he led a highly successful strategy of cross-selling payments solutions into Intuit's accounting software customers. Before Intuit, Mr. Kaplan built and sold multiple highly successful payments companies including Innovative Merchants Solutions (sold to Intuit in 2003) and Superior Bankcard Services (sold to a predecessor of Elavon in 1998).
"I am excited to partner with GTCR and join such a talented team at SPS," said Joe Kaplan. "We have an exceptional opportunity to accelerate growth at SPS as a standalone company and make investments in technology and products to offer our customers and partners a best-in-class payments solution. In addition, SPS represents an ideal platform from which we can acquire complementary businesses to enhance our capabilities, scale and differentiation. GTCR is a highly regarded investor in the payments industry given their history and track record and I am extremely excited to collaborate with them on this opportunity."
"Our partnership with Joe is a textbook example of GTCR's Leaders StrategyTM in action," said Collin Roche, Managing Director at GTCR. "Joe is an accomplished industry veteran with a long track record of success in the merchant acquiring space. He will bring tremendous value to SPS at this exciting time in the Company's evolution."
Aaron Cohen, Managing Director at GTCR, continued: "Joe's experience at Intuit driving their successful payments and accounting software cross-sell strategy makes him the ideal executive for SPS given our strong ongoing partnership with Sage and their market-leading suite of accounting software solutions. We are thrilled to be working with Joe and the rest of the SPS team on this transformational growth opportunity."
About GTCR
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare, Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Growth Business Services industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $14 billion in over 200 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com.
About SPS
Sage Payment Solutions ("SPS") provides business technology solutions to global small and medium sized companies, in every industry, that enables businesses to get paid, make payments and manage their money—simply and securely. SPS' comprehensive suite of products and services deliver easy to use technology for every stage of a client's lifecycle. For more than 20 years, SPS has been dedicated to the success of its clients, providing a seamless connection with, and between, business applications; offering valuable business insights that enable clients to run their businesses smarter, so they can run their businesses better. For more information, please visit us at www.sage.com/us/payment-processing.
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SOURCE GTCR
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