Charlotte payments software company Payzer was acquired last month for $250 million by Portland, Maine-based Wex, marking a big payoff for the business that Joe Giordano and Doug Little started in 2012.
Trade publications reported the sale in October after a press release from Wex. The Charlotte Ledger cited the sale in a Wednesday story.
Wex plans to pay as much as $11 million more if certain metrics are achieved by Payzer, which has about 150 employees. It marks one of the biggest sales of a homegrown Charlotte technology company.
Payer’s software helps businesses with payments, scheduling, invoicing and other services. The company focuses on about 150,000 plumbers, roofers and HVAC contractors. It has annual revenue of about $30 million, Payments Dive reported in October.
“The acquisition will advance WEX’s growth strategy of expanding its product suite and creating additional cross-sell opportunities,” by adding a business in a high-growth market with an overlapping clientele, Wex CEO Melissa Smith said in a press release.
Giordano, 60, was a Bank of America payments executive before starting Payzer. He previously had worked at ExxonMobil. Little worked at BlueTarp Financial, which provided funding to small construction materials companies.
Payzer raised about $40 million in outside capital, The Ledger reported. Investors included Grotech Ventures.
Wex provides payment services to fleet operators. It reported third-quarter net income of $18.4 million, compared with a loss of $44.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue increased 6% to $651 million. Wex has a market cap of $7.5 billion.
