Convera Closes Western Union Business Solutions Axquisition Deal

B2B FinTech Convera says it has completed its acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS).

WUBS was acquired last year by Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group for $910 million and rebranded as Convera, a new standalone payments operation.

In a news release Monday (July 10), the company announced it had concluded the acquisition of its European business, thus marking the end of the transition from WUBS.

"We are delighted to formally complete this transition and incorporate all our European business into Convera," said Convera CEO Patrick Gauthier. "The past two years have seen Convera transform substantially, building on the legacy of Western Union Business Solutions while positioning the company for growth in the digital age."

In an interview earlier this year — soon after Convera received its U.K. operating license — Gauthier discussed some of the complexities of doing business in Europe.

For example, due to the uniqueness of its model, Convera needed to acquire a payments license and MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) licenses covering those activities.

Also, Gautheir noted in January that his goal was to be ready to go public via an initial public offering (IPO) within three years.

"That doesn't mean I’ll want to do an IPO in three years," he said.

Rather, his ambition is instead to have the operating standards in place that one would expect from a publicly traded company.

Convera said Monday that with the acquisition finished, it will turn its attention toward investing in cross-border payments. According to the release, Convera reported more than half a billion in annual revenue and is "on track to outpace last year’s performance."

(Source: PYMNTS)