GTCR has entered into a partnership with Douglas Bergeron to form Opus Global Holdings. Opus will focus on investing in companies across certain segments of the financial technology industry. GTCR plans to invest up to $450 million of equity capital to support the strategy. Mr. Bergeron will serve as CEO of Opus Global and plans to invest up to $50 million. This is the second partnership between Mr. Bergeron and GTCR.
“The existing financial technology and payments ecosystems are rapidly evolving, but remain highly fragmented with limited interoperability and little opportunity to leverage enterprise-wide data,” said Mr. Bergeron. “We see an opportunity to successfully consolidate and globalize best-in-breed products for worldwide deployment while leveraging data across applications. We intend to assemble a leading, global financial technology company, and to develop a worldwide distribution network of partners, distributors and employees.”
Mr. Bergeron, a 23-year veteran of the financial technology industry, served as CEO of global payments technology company VeriFone (NYSE: PAY) from 2001 through 2013. Mr. Bergeron previously led the acquisition of VeriFone from Hewlett-Packard in 2001 and, together with backing from GTCR in 2002, built VeriFone into a multinational payments company with operations in over one hundred countries and 2012 revenue of nearly $1.9 billion.
“We are excited to once again partner with Doug,” said GTCR Managing Director Collin Roche. “As a result of our previous partnership with Doug, we have tremendous respect for his capabilities in identifying sectors for strategic growth and building successful businesses in those sectors. We believe that Doug’s technology, software, and recurring services experience and his expertise in international channel development will contribute to the success of Opus Global.”
Opus Global will invest in companies ranging from smaller, entrepreneurial businesses to multibillion-dollar enterprises. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto (www.opusglobal.com).
GTCR pioneered the investment strategy of identifying and partnering with executives to acquire and build companies through a combination of acquisitions and internal growth. The firm currently has nearly $7 billion in assets under management. Since its inception in 1980, GTCR has invested more than $10 billion in over 200 companies. GTCR is currently investing its tenth fund, a private equity fund with $3.25 billion of committed capital. The firm is based in Chicago (www.gtcr.com).
“GTCR has deep sector expertise in the financial technology and payments industries,” said GTCR Managing Director Aaron Cohen. “Drawing on our track-record and continued focus in this sector, we believe there are a number of compelling industry trends that we are excited to capitalize on with Mr. Bergeron. Moreover, the amount of equity capital allocated to Opus Global will enable GTCR, alongside Doug Bergeron, to consider and pursue a wide array of acquisitions, including the ability to undertake more sizeable transactions.”
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-25-13
