Exponent looks to cash in on interest for Cardsave

Julian Longhurst
28 October 2010

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

A number of unsolicited approaches for credit card terminal supplier Cardsave have prompted its majority shareholder, Exponent Private Equity, to appoint corporate financiers to sell the business, reports suggest.

Exponent Private Equity acquired Cardsave, a supplier of credit card terminals and services to independent retailers in a £72m secondary buyout in mid-2007. The company was bought from a consortium of shareholders which included RJD Partners, Morley Fund Management and LDC; RJD Partners had originally led the £37m buyout of Cardsave in 2004.

A successful sale now could net £125m for the business, with private equity bidders expected to figure strongly, both directly and via portfolio companies.

Grimsby-based Cardsave was founded in 1995 to provide merchant services and other services to Britain's independent - mainly smaller - retailers. Clive Khan, the former CEO of Travelex before its sale to Apax Partners, heads the business; he and his management team jointly hold around a third of the company's equity.