Travelex to acquire Ruesch International
27 March 2007
London and Washington, 27 March 2007
Travelex, the world's largest non-bank provider of international
payment services, announced today that it has agreed to acquire
Ruesch International from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for
US$440 million.
Ruesch International is a business to business payments services
company, based in Washington DC, with customers in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Australia,
including more than 125 Fortune 1000 companies. Ruesch will be
merged with Travelex's Commercial Foreign Exchange division to
accelerate Travelex's growth in the international payments
market.
Together, Travelex and Ruesch will continue to provide
cross-border payment services to more than 35,000 small and
medium-sized businesses, as well as multi-national financial
institutions and global consumer and industrial firms.
Ian Meakins, CEO of Travelex said: "The acquisition of Ruesch
strengthens our presence in the international payments market and
reinforces our position as the leading non-bank provider of foreign
exchange services. The combined business will now be able to offer
an enhanced range of products, delivering even better value and
superior services to our customers around the world."
Thomas P Staudt, CEO of Ruesch said: "This move brings together
the strengths of two innovative businesses, both committed to
offering the best cross-border payments services in the market. We
will continue to provide our customers with the market-leading
payment tools they need to maintain their competitive edge in an
increasingly global business environment."
Travelex was acquired by funds advised by Apax Partners in
August 2005. Stephan Wilcke, a partner at Apax and a Director of
Travelex, welcomed the transaction as very positive for both
companies' customers and employees: "In assisting Travelex in this
acquisition, Apax has capitalised on its global reach using a
combined UK and US transaction team to deliver a transatlantic deal
for one of our global portfolio companies."
Travelex was advised by Credit Suisse, Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Financing for the
transaction has been underwritten by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
Ruesch was advised by Lane, Berry & Co., Wachovia Securities
and Ropes & Gray.
Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to
complete later this year.
Enquiries
UK
John Martin
CFO, Travelex
T: +44 20 7400 4000
John Antcliffe
Smithfield
T: +44 20 7903 0665
US
Thomas P Staudt
CEO, Ruesch
T: +1 202 312 6273