Fifth Third Processing Solutions Advances Expansion Strategy With Acquisition of National Processing Company

CINCINNATI, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire National Processing Company (NPC).  The transaction advances Fifth Third Processing Solutions' strategy to grow through complementary acquisitions and creates one of the largest merchant acquiring businesses in the United States, with a particular expertise on meeting the unique payment processing needs of small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses.  

The acquisition of NPC expands Fifth Third Processing Solutions' best-in-class capabilities and facilitates the delivery of the Company's innovative electronic payment solutions to Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) and agent banks, strengthening its position in the SME segment and establishing the Company as a major player in the third party and agent bank referral channels.  These capabilities will accelerate Fifth Third Processing Solutions' efforts to cross sell merchant processing to more than 3,000 current Fifth Third Processing Solutions financial institution customers.

"We are delighted about the prospect of welcoming NPC, its customers and its partners to the Fifth Third Processing Solutions family," said Charles Drucker, President and CEO of Fifth Third Processing Solutions.  "This acquisition is an important part of our ongoing growth strategy, as it broadens our client relationships, enhances the innovative services we provide merchants across the United States and expands our cross-selling opportunities among our clients.  We are particularly excited about the opportunities now before us in the fast-growing SME space and the benefits we will be able to deliver to an expanded base of merchants and financial institutions.  SMEs will be able to leverage the same industry-leading payments system that our customers in the national grocery, retail, restaurant and drug store verticals rely upon to meet their payment processing needs.  Our financial institution clients will gain better support for their merchant customer needs."

NPC, whose heritage dates back to the 1960s, is a leading merchant acquirer focused on the SME market.  NPC's success in the SME market is driven by its broad third party sales network of independent sales organizations and financial institution clients.  The third party sales channel is the fastest growing segment of the merchant acquiring business, having grown at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 8% from 2007 through 2009(1).  NPC ranks as the largest merchant acquirer exclusively focused on the SME market with approximately 242,000 merchant relationships in the United States(2). The company is led by President and CEO Tom Wimsett and an experienced management team.

"Today's agreement represents that next step in NPC's continued growth," said Tom Wimsett, President and CEO of NPC.  "Fifth Third Processing Solutions provides one of the most comprehensive product offerings to both merchants and financial institutions in the payments industry.  I can think of no better partner for our customers and employees.  My leadership team and I look forward to working closely with Charles and his team to consummate this transaction and deliver its expected benefits to our combined customer base."

The transaction is expected to close in early November, pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions.  Upon completion, NPC will become a subsidiary of Fifth Third Processing Solutions.  It will continue to have locations in Louisville, Kentucky; Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois.  The combined Fifth Third Processing Solutions will remain headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Together, Fifth Third Processing Solutions and NPC will partner with over 420,000 merchant locations in the United States, handling approximately $344 billion in annual merchant payments volume.  

(1)  The Nilson Report (Issue 945 – March 2010); Company websites

(2)  Source:  The Nilson Report (Issue 945 – March 2010); First Annapolis consulting analysis

About Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC

Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC delivers innovative payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses and financial institutions around the world.  A pioneer in card payment acceptance in the early 1970s, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a joint venture of Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).  As a premier full service payment solutions provider, the Company provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private label programs processing over 33.3 billion ATM and point of sale transactions and over $315.5 billion in debit and credit card sales volume annually.  The Company supports over 180,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 11 countries.  According to the Nilson Report (March 2010), the Company is the third largest U.S. merchant transaction acquirer.  Learn more at www.FTPSLLC.com.

About National Processing Company

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, with additional facilitates in Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois, National Processing Company (NPC) is the largest provider of payment processing services exclusively focused on the small-to-medium merchant processing market.  NPC provides a wide range of payment processing services, from point-of-sale credit card and debit card processing to integrated e-commerce solutions.  NPC is a portfolio company of GTCR. More information can be found at www.npc.net.

SOURCE Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC