Clairvest puts Kubra on the block

The Canadian online payment processor Kubra, which is backed by the Clairvest Group, is up for sale, five sources told peHUB.

FT Partners is advising on the process, sources said. Kubra, of Mississauga, Ontario, is a payment processor for utilities and companies in the insurance, financial services and healthcare sectors. Nearly all, or 98 percent of its business, is in the United States, a person said. Kubra has 400 clients, according to the company website.

First round bids for Kubra are due in June, two of the sources said. Kubra generates $30 million EBITDA and could sell for $500 million, the persons said.

Clairvest, a Toronto PE firm, owns a 35 percent stake in Kurbra, according to Canadian regulatory filings. Kubra was the first investment for Clairvest’s third fund, which collected $300 million in 2007.

Clairvest originally put in C$13 million (US$11.9 million) into Kubra, a press release said. The firm recouped most of this investment in 2012 when Kubra paid out a $20 million dividend to its shareholders. Clairvest and CEP III received $11.6 million, the statement said.

The Canadian PE firm is raising its fifth fund. Earlier this month, Clairvest collected $518 million for a first close of Fund V. This is 86 percent of the pool’s $600 million hard cap, peHUB Canada has reported. The firm’s fourth fund, Clairvest Equity Partners IV LP, closed at $467 million in 2011.

Performance data for Funds III and IV were unavailable.

Executives at Kubra and Clairvest did not reply to requests for comment.