Member Article

ATM provider Cardpoint sold to US group for £100m

Cheshire firm Cardpoint, which trades as Cashzone in the UK and Cardpoint in Germany, has been bought by global ATM services provider Cardtronics as part of its strategy to grow its existing UK business and generate economies of scale across Europe.

Cardtronics, based in Houston, Texas, bought Cardpoint from Payzone Ventures for £100m. Cardpoint was founded in 1999 in Northwich and posted revenues of around £65m for the year to June 30. It operates 7,100 cash machines across the UK and 800 in Germany, primarily at retailers, petrol forecourts, service stations and food and drink outlets.

CEO Steve Rathgaber said: “With this transformative acquisition of the Cashzone and Cardpoint ATM estates, Cardtronics establishes the foundation upon which to build a Cardtronics Europe scale business to complement our North American operations.”

The US company was advised on the acquisition by Richard Pulford, managing director of DC Advisory and a team from law firm Squire Sanders in Manchester led by partner Jane Haxby.

Cashzone, which also operates cash machines in Germany, was owned by private equity house Duke Street Capital. It has an ATM estate of more than 7,100 free-to-use and pay-to-use machines, located primarily at retailers, petrol forecourts, service stations and food and drink outlets.

In 2002 Cardpoint, Cheshire floated on AIM. In 2007 it merged with Alphyra, the Irish electronic payments business, to form Payzone. In 2010, Duke Street Capital, acquired the enlarged business.

Cardpoint chief executive Jonathan Simpson-Dent has been appointed as managing director of Cardtronics Europe, which includes Cashzone, Cardpoint and Hertfordshire-based Bank Machine, Cardtronics’ existing UK subsidiary.

He said: “As managing director of Cardtronics Europe, I am excited to be inheriting the proven sales engine from Cashzone and Cardpoint, the leading operational platform of Bank Machine and the financial stability and backing that comes with global ATM services provider Cardtronics.

“I look forward to further developing and capitalizing on these combined strengths to serve our existing customers, unlock new business opportunities and write the first chapter of a growth-oriented Cardtronics Europe.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .