There was nothing prepaid or virtual about this transaction -- Wright Express put up some cash to acquire UK travel industry prepaid-solutions provider CorporatePay.
Based in South Portland, Maine, Wright Express paid $27.5 million (about GBP 17 million), net of cash assumed, to scoop up CorporatePay and expand WrightExpress' reach and product offerings.
There also is a potential earn-out of about $8.8 million (GBP 5.5 million) based on CorporatePay hitting certain performance targets.
London-based CorporatePay provides a variety of prepaid card and expense management solutions for business travel in the UK. The company counts the Association of Independent Tour Operators and ABTA - The Travel Association, among its partners.
The acquisition expands Wright Express' penetration in the UK and the rest of Europe and bolsters its product portfolio with "prepaid single-use accounts or virtual cards," says Michael Dubyak, CEO of Wright Express.
"Furthermore, the addition of multi-currency prepaid cards provides cross-selling opportunities to our global network of travel customers," Dubyak says.
CorporatePay notched nearly $399 million (GBP 248 million) in load volume in 2011.