Merchant e-Solutions, the U.S. arm of Brazilian payments firm Cielo, confirmed Wednesday its intent to move the company's headquarters to Atlanta.
The payments company, currently based in Silicon Valley, will move its corporate offices to an office building near Lenox Square in Buckhead. In a news release from Gov. Nathan Deal’s office, Merchant e-Solutions CEO Tom Bell said, “We are excited to make Georgia our home.”
The AJC reported the planned move online Tuesday. The newspaper also reported last year that state and city officials were wooing the payment processor to move to Atlanta. Georgia is a major player in the world of financial technology. About 70 percent of all debit, credit and gift card transactions are processed across the networks of companies with operations in Georgia, according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition
“The Atlanta market brings us closer to key business partners and allows us to tap into the amazing talent of this rich financial technology epicenter as we establish and expand our local presence,” he said.
The project involves 143 jobs with a planned move by the company into Live Oak Square in Buckhead, according to documents contained in a meeting agenda for the board of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency. The Invest Atlanta board will consider a $40,000 grant to aid the company’s relocation at its Thursday board meeting, and the company could be eligible for a $100,000 state aid grant, the documents say.
Jobs tax credits could push the incentive total far higher.
A visit with Cielo executives was the centerpiece of a trade mission by Gov. Nathan Deal to Brazil last June. The AJC reported then a major new operations center and possibly an innovation lab involving high-paid software and other tech jobs were believed to be part of Cielo's U.S. expansion plans.
In December, the AJC reported that recruitment could include the Merchant e-Solutions' U.S. headquarters.
“I had the pleasure of meeting with their leadership on an economic development mission to Brazil,” Deal said in the release. “As a result, we can now celebrate the relocation of their headquarters from the Silicon Valley to Georgia. This announcement is further affirmation that our highly-skilled workforce, well-connected logistics infrastructure and culture of collaboration will continue to draw top-tier prospects like Merchant e-Solutions.”
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the Merchant e-Solutions relocation helps the region in “solidifying our status as a national and international hub for transaction processing.”
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