Edison Partners Exits TIO Networks to PayPal
Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) July 18, 2017 -- Edison Partners today announced that it has exited Vancouver-based TIO Networks following the completion of a sale to PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), a leading global online payments system. PayPal previously announced the acquisition in February, funding the $233 million transaction in cash. This marks the third exit to a public major strategic buyer for the Edison portfolio in the last ten months.
TIO is a cloud-based multi-channel bill payment processor that has processed over $7 billion in payments in 2016. The company serves 16 million consumer bill pay accounts* and delivers convenient access to secure bill pay via kiosk, walk-in, mobile and web solutions. TIO went public on what is now referred to as TSX.V exchange during the dot-com boom. TIO Networks acquired Edison portfolio company, Softgate Systems, in April of 2016. Joe Allegra, General Partner at Edison Partners, joined the TIO Networks board of directors at that time.
“Hamed and the TIO team have done a great job of building a multi-channel bill payment company, noted Allegra. “Partnering with and then acquiring Softgate brought tremendous scale and efficiencies to this market.”
“We value the strategic insights we received from Joe and the Edison team since the acquisition of Softgate Systems,” said Hamed Shahbazi, CEO of TIO Networks. “We are proud of how far the company has come and are thrilled to join forces with PayPal.” TIO will operate as a separate service within PayPal under continued leadership of Hamed Shahbazi.
According to CBInsights, the volume of corporate strategic acquisitions has declined over the past 18 months. Despite this trend, Edison Partners has been active with strategic acquirers. In September 2016, Edison exited Redvision to First American Financial Corporation, and Logfire to Oracle Corporation.
Edison Partners’ Financial Technology practice has financed 43 companies in the sector since the firm’s founding. Notable exits include Edgetrade, FolioDynamix, GAIN Capital, Liberty Tax, OptionsCity and Princeton Financial. Current investments include: Axial, BFS Capital, Billtrust, Clearpool Group, ComplySci, GAN Integrity, MoneyLion, Predata, Scivantage, and Trader Tools.
*Consumer bill pay accounts represent the total number of accounts between consumers and billers. A consumer may have a relationship with more than one biller and may have more than one account.
About TIO Networks
TIO is a cloud-based multi-channel bill payment processing and receivables management provider, serving the largest telecom, wireless, cable, and utility bill issuers in North America. TIO integrates with the back office of billing systems to accept, validate, and collect payments via self-service kiosk, retail walk-in, mobile, and web solutions. With approximately 60 million transactions processed in fiscal 2016 and a processing network that serves more than 10,000 billers, TIO symbolizes fast, convenient, and secure access to expedited bill payment services.
About PayPal
Fueled by a fundamental belief that having access to financial services creates opportunity, PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) is committed to democratizing financial services and empowering people and businesses to join and thrive in the global economy. Our open digital payments platform gives PayPal's 203 million active account holders the confidence to connect and transact in new and powerful ways, whether they are online, on a mobile device, in an app, or in person. Through a combination of technological innovation and strategic partnerships, PayPal creates better ways to manage and move money, and offers choice and flexibility when sending payments, paying or getting paid. Available in more than 200 markets around the world, the PayPal platform, including Braintree, Venmo and Xoom, enables consumers and merchants to receive money in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds in 56 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 25 currencies.
About Edison Partners
For over 30 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams navigate the entrepreneurial journey and build successful companies. Through the unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating leverage, the Edison Director Network, and executive education, Edison employs a holistic approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses ($5 to $20 million in revenue) in financial, healthcare, enterprise and marketing technology sectors. Edison’s active portfolio has created aggregate market value exceeding $10 billion. Its long-tenured team based in Princeton, N.J., manages more than $1 billion in assets throughout the eastern United States.
Kelly Ford, Edison Partners, +1 6098739243, [email protected]
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