iPayment Holdings, Inc. and iPayment, Inc. Announce Closing of Refinancing and Borrowing for Acquisition of Leaders Merchant Services

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Nov. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iPayment, Inc., a trusted provider of payment and processing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced the closing of its refinancing on existing term loans and incremental borrowing, the proceeds of which will be used to partially fund the acquisition of Leaders Merchant Services (Leaders), a California-based independent sales organization (ISO) specializing in credit and debit card processing and point-of-sale solutions for SMBs.

"With this refinancing and subsequent acquisition of Leaders, iPayment will benefit from an immediate expansion of its portfolio and a new, valued based and highly-efficient direct sales operation that specializes in point-of-sale (POS) and business solution sales, leading with the Clover® suite of point-of-sale products," noted Robert Purcell, Chief Financial Officer, iPayment, Inc. "iPayment will also capitalize on numerous business synergies resulting from the acquisition of Leaders that will yield incremental value."

Founded in 2000, Leaders is a highly experienced ISO well recognized and respected in the payments space, specifically the SMB segment. They became a registered ISO partner of iPayment in 2004. Leaders has achieved impressive success in the payments industry, seeing double digit growth in processing volume each of the past three years. Leaders also has its own proprietary customer relationship management (CRM) system that has helped the company achieve above average customer retention levels.

"When we were first approached about this potential opportunity, we were immediately interested as we've worked with the Leaders team since 2004," commented OB Rawls IV, CEO and President, iPayment, Inc. "This type of reinvestment in growth by our owners demonstrates their commitment in the management team and our partners. We've considerably strengthened our balance sheet, which permits these types of investments, not only today, but in the future as well."

"After a mutually beneficial 14-year partnership with iPayment, we're excited to now officially be part of the iPayment family," commented Brandon Wolfe, President, Leaders Merchant Services. "This deal allows Leaders to accelerate our growth and continue to invest more in resources and products to help our SMB customers and our sales teams. We're looking forward to working with the great team at iPayment to bring more value in and around payments to our customers, agents, and prospects."

This combined strength gives Leaders opportunities to quickly and efficiently accelerate its growth trajectory while continuing to expand its value proposition, service and product suite as part of a larger organization with incremental resources and tools.  Leaders will continue to operate as a standalone business, now under the iPayment family of companies, which also includes Petroleum Card Services and National Bank Services. Financial details related to the acquisition will not be disclosed.

About iPayment
iPayment is a trusted provider of payment processing solutions in the U.S. With over 18 years of experience and more than 137,000 SMB customers, the company is consistently recognized for its depth of payments experience, breadth of product offerings, and commitment to transparency and SMB support. From new product innovation to customer service satisfaction, iPayment is an organization focused on small business enablement and delivering relevant and impactful services and solutions that help partners and SMB customers grow their individual businesses. For more information on iPayment, please visit http://www.ipaymentinc.com.

About Leaders Merchant Services
Leaders Merchant Services is a recognized provider of payment processing for companies of all sizes. Founded in 2000 by brothers Sean and Brandon Wolfe, Leaders has evolved into one of the leading distributors of point of sale systems and payment acceptance solutions for small and medium sized businesses. Headquartered in California, Leaders serves businesses in all 50 states. For more information, please visit www.leadersmerchantservices.com.

SOURCE iPayment, Inc.

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http://www.ipaymentinc.com