07/05/2012
Boston, MA — July 5, 2012 — Merchant Warehouse, a leader and innovator in payment solutions, announced today it has completed an investment from Parthenon Capital Partners (Parthenon), a growth oriented private equity firm with offices in Boston and San Francisco. The Parthenon investment marks the first time Merchant Warehouse has taken on institutional capital. Proceeds from the transaction were used to provide partial liquidity to certain shareholders and capital to pursue the company’s growth initiatives.
Merchant Warehouse was founded in 1998 on the principle that businesses should be able to purchase credit card machines and open merchant accounts at a reasonable cost and, at the same time, receive superior service and support. Today, Merchant Warehouse is an industry leader in developing and delivering award-winning and innovative payment processing solutions and merchant account services to developers and ISVs. Since 2007, the Company’s MerchantWARE® Suite has provided easy to integrate, PA-DSS certified solutions that offer the easiest path to compliance for both developer and merchant. With the recent launch of Genius ™, Merchant Warehouse has again changed the landscape of the payment solutions industry. A Customer Engagement Platform ™, Genius delivers a unified platform solution for merchants, point-of-sale developers, value added resellers (VARs) and agents that aggregates and integrates every conceivable transaction technology, payment type, and value-add program. The company complements its solution portfolio with a comprehensive suite of merchant account services for merchants of all sizes.
“This new partnership allows Merchant Warehouse to continue its growth trajectory and track record of industry leading innovation,” said Henry Helgeson, founder and co-CEO of Merchant Warehouse. “It is a testament to our employees’ hard work, dedication and commitment to building our business and focusing on our customers.”
Scott Zdanis, Merchant Warehouse’s founder and co-CEO continued, “We look forward to continuing to offer our partners and customers the industry leading technology solutions and commitment to customer service and support that has made Merchant Warehouse successful for the last 14 years.”
Brian Golson, Managing Partner at Parthenon Capital Partners said, “After a three year search for the right partnership in the integrated payments industry, we’re thrilled to partner with Henry Helgeson, Scott Zdanis and the Merchant Warehouse executive team to aggressively grow the company. Merchant Warehouse is poised to continue to build upon its leadership position in the payments industry.” Zach Sadek, Vice President at the firm, remarked, “We are impressed with the Merchant Warehouse team and their commitment to technological innovation. We’re looking forward to assisting the company as it continues to build partnerships with the industry’s leading ISVs and resellers.”
Financial Technology Partners and FTP Securities LLC (together “FT Partners”) acted as strategic and financial advisor and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to Merchant Warehouse. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to Parthenon Capital Partners in connection with the transaction.
About Merchant Warehouse
Merchant Warehouse is a recognized leader in payment solutions and merchant services. The company enables merchants, POS developers and VARs to achieve strategic business advantage through the delivery of current and emerging payment, offer and program solutions and merchant services that dramatically enhance the merchant-customer experience. Merchant Warehouse uniquely delivers a unified payment solutions portfolio coupled with full transparency and unparalleled customer service, which affords merchants and POS developers the ability to focus more on growing their respective businesses. Merchant Warehouse is one of the fastest growing and innovative payment solutions companies in North America. For more information about Merchant Warehouse, please visit merchantwarehouse.com.
About Parthenon Capital Partners
Parthenon Capital Partners is a leading mid-market private equity firm based in Boston and San Francisco. Parthenon utilizes niche industry expertise and a deep execution team to invest in growth companies in service industries. Parthenon seeks to be an active and aligned partner to management, either through recapitalization transactions or by backing new executives. Parthenon has particular expertise in business services, financial and insurance services and healthcare, but seeks any service, technology or delivery business with a strong value proposition and proprietary know-how. Parthenon’s investment team has deep experience in corporate strategy, capital markets and operations, enabling the firm to pursue complex, multi-faceted value creation opportunities. For more information, visit www.parthenoncapital.com.