Business
Business

TSYS to buy NetSpend for $1.4 billion

By Arielle Kass
Feb 19, 2013

A Columbus-based company payment company is making a $1.4 billion acquisition.

TSYS, a payment-acceptance company, is purchasing the reloadable pre-paid debit card company NetSpend. It is an all-cash deal.

The Austin, Texas company provides financial services to about 2.4 million people who don’t have bank accounts, and provides corporate payroll debit cards to those without banks. The deal will mean NetSpend shareholders get $16 a share.

In a statement, TSYS chairman and CEO Philip Tomlinson said the acquisition is a transformative event that would help diversify TSYS’ business. It will allow the company to be a “more innovative payment solutions provide,” he said. The business is expected to grow sharply in the next several years.

The purchase, which is subject to regulatory approval, is scheduled to close in the middle of the year.

About the Author

Arielle Kass covers Gwinnett County for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She started at the paper in 2010, and has covered business and local government beats around metro Atlanta. Arielle is a graduate of Emory University.

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