Waud Takes Aim at Payments Sector

Waud Capital Partners has added Andrew Rueff as a new operating partner. Mr. Rueff will work with the firm’s business and technology services investment team and pursue new platform investments in the payments and financial technology sector, a new initiative that Waud Capital has committed $100 million of equity capital.

“In partnering with Andrew, Waud Capital underscores its commitment to finding and partnering with the best CEOs and senior executives in our focus industries,” said Justin DuPere, a Principal at Waud Capital.  “We have identified payments as one of the top business and technology services sectors to build and scale a new platform, and we are thrilled to be partnering with a world class executive like Andrew with whom we plan to create significant value.”

Mr. Rueff is a veteran of the payments industry. From January 2000 to February 2015 he was active with TransFirst Holdings, a private equity-backed (Vista Equity Partners) merchant services provider that was acquired by Total System Services (a credit card processor, merchant acquirer and bank credit card issuer) in January 2016 for $2.3 billion. During his time at TransFirst, Mr. Rueff served as a senior member of the company’s management team. From 2000 to 2014, he was responsible for the company’s strategy and corporate development and he completed more than 25 acquisitions that helped grow the company from less than $20 million of net revenue to over $250 million of net revenue and significant profitability. Mr. Rueff currently serves on the board of CyberGrants, a Waud Capital portfolio company, where he advises on payments strategy.

“I am excited to join the Waud Capital team and to establish and grow new platforms in the payments and financial technology sector,” said Mr. Rueff.  “It is an opportune time to invest in these industries, in particular the integrated payments space, as an evolving competitive and technology landscape creates significant runway to build market-leading companies of scale.”

Waud Capital makes investments from $50 million to $100 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $250 million that operate in the healthcare services and business and technology services sectors. Since its founding in 1993, Waud Capital has made more than 195 investments, including platform companies and add-on acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Chicago (www.waudcapital.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2017