Genstar, Blackstone make final bids for Moneris U.S.: sources

Private equity has made the final round for Moneris U.S., three sources said.

Two PE firms — Genstar Capital and Blackstone Group — made final proposals to acquire Moneris U.S., the sources said. An unnamed strategic buyer, also backed by a PE firm, made an offer, one of the sources, a banker, said.

It’s unclear which party is in the lead. Final bids for Moneris U.S. were due last week, the sources said. “They will pick [a winner] soon,” a second banker, also one of the sources, said.

In December 2000, RBC and Bank of Montreal established Moneris Solutions as a joint venture. Toronto-based Moneris processes more than 3 billion credit- and debit-card transactions a year for more than 350,000 merchant locations across North America, the company’s website said. Moneris employs more than 1,300 people.

Moneris’s U.S. operations are based out of Schaumburg, Illinois. They were originally known as Harris Bank Merchant Services/the Charge-It-System. RBC and BMO are advising on the auction of Moneris U.S., Buyouts reported.

Moneris Solutions put its U.S. business up for sale in May, Buyouts reported. The company is expected to fetch around $450 million, Buyouts said.

Executives for Genstar, Moneris, Blackstone, RBC and BMO could not be reached for comment.

Action Item: To contact Moneris email customer.relations@moneris.com.

Karuna Prakash Mukudum, a coordinator working for Financial Information Network and Operations Ltd, processes a smart card as she collects money from a woman in Wavanje village of Raigad district, about 50 km from Mumbai July 2, 2013. Photo courtesy Reuters/Danish Siddiqui