Global Payments, a provider of payment technology and software solutions, announced an agreement to buy Sicom Systems in a cash deal of approximately $415 million. Sicom provides cloud-based SaaS solutions and other technologies to quick service and fast-casual restaurants, as well as food service management providers. Global Payments will pay for the acquisition in cash and existing credit.
“The acquisition of Sicom aligns perfectly with our software-driven payments strategy and establishes Global Payments as a leader in one of the largest addressable markets we serve today,” says Jeff Sloan, Global Payments’ Chief Executive Officer.
He adds, “Sicom’s technologies are highly complementary to our existing Xenial solutions, with the combination providing Global Payments’ market-leading technology solutions across the entirety of the restaurant vertical market. The transaction also allows us to expand our owned software solutions into food service management, a large addressable market globally with attractive fundamentals, while further accelerating our business mix toward technology enablement.”
Recently, the company also announced the completion of its acquisition of AdvancedMD from Marlin Equity Partners. AdvanceMD is a leading provider of cloud-based SaaS solutions to small-to-medium-sized physician practices in the United States. This consolidation was supposed to drive Global Payments’ technology-driven, software-oriented scheme toward a 60 percent target set at its Investor Day in March.
The company has been actively working on its vertical strategy to boost its scale and size over the past several quarters. Among a flurry of activities, the transaction of Heartland Payments Systems in 2016 has been the most significant. The sale contributing to its small and medium-sized enterprise distribution base and fortified its vertical reach in the United States.
Other integrations such as the assets of FIS Gaming Business, Pay and Shop Limited, Ezidebit, PayPros, eWay, and the communities and sports divisions of Active Network etc., have also aided Global Payments’ business diversification. With all the plans above coming into practice, shares of Global Payments have experienced a surge of 33.3 percent, though this still underperforms the industry’s growth of 37 percent.