Strategic acquisition gives Heartland access to Canadian merchants and offers CollectivePOS expanded industry expertise and platform for growth
March 4, 2008 - Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY), a leading provider of credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll and payment services, today announced it has acquired a majority interest in Collective Point of Sale Solutions Ltd. (CollectivePOS). CollectivePOS is a major Canadian provider of payment processing services and secure point-of-sale solutions. Under the agreement, Heartland will maintain the CollectivePOS brand in Canada. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This agreement will mark Heartland’s entry into the Canadian credit and debit card processing market. Heartland will add CollectivePOS’ 5,000+ Canadian customers – processing in excess of $1 billion annually – to its growing portfolio of small and mid-sized businesses. Additionally, Heartland and CollectivePOS are now able to service merchants that are dually located in the United States and Canada.
“CollectivePOS gives Heartland a presence in the Canadian market with a recognized, rapidly growing payments processor,” said Bob Carr, chairman and chief executive officer of Heartland. “CollectivePOS shares our business philosophy and our focus on providing secure payments processing to small and mid-sized businesses. Both Heartland and CollectivePOS are excited to jointly service merchants with locations in both the U.S. and Canada.”
CollectivePOS’ management team, led by President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Back, will maintain its leadership of the company, and its customers’ payments transactions will continue to be processed and serviced by the company. As such, operations will continue seamlessly, and CollectivePOS merchants will not need a system conversion.
“Heartland’s stake in CollectivePOS will provide us with accelerated growth opportunities in the Canadian market,” said Back. “Not only will CollectivePOS benefit from Heartland’s considerable expertise and experience in processing and payment solutions, we also gain access to a management team that has successfully built Heartland from the ground up into a leader in the U.S. payment processing industry.”
About Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., a NYSE company trading under the symbol HPY, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll and payment solutions to more than 162,000 small and mid-sized businesses nationwide.
Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. For more information, visit www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com. |
