WEX Wraps Up Acquisitions Of B2B Payment Firms eNett, Optal

WEX Inc. said on Tuesday (Dec. 15) said it has wrapped up its previously announced deal to buy eNett, which is a B2B payment solution provider, and Optal, a firm that focuses on optimizing B2B transactions. WEX paid an overall roughly $577.5 million in consideration from cash on hand, according to an announcement.

With the deal, WEX is growing its leadership suite inside the travel and business solutions area. Anthony Hynes, eNett International’s former managing director and chief executive, will serve as the travel division’s president.

Jay Dearborn will remain in the position of president of corporate payments and will be tasked with WEX’s B2B payment offerings that are designed to reach business clients, tech firms and financial institutions (FIs). Dearborn and Hynes will report directly to CEO Melissa Smith.

“Contemporaneously with the completion of the acquisition, WEX and the former shareholders of eNett and Optal have agreed to a full and final settlement of the litigation pending in the English courts relating to the previously announced purchase agreement,” WEX said in the announcement.

WEX foresees that the effect of the purchase on adjusted net income will be immaterial up to calendar year 2021, though it notes that “visibility remains limited due to COVID-19.”

WEX lost $57.7 million, or $1.49 per share, on $382.1 million in revenue for the three months concluding on Sept. 30 in contrast to a profit of $42.4 million, or 34 cents per share, on $460 million on revenue during the year-ago Q3, the company reported in an earnings release in October.

“While demand remained muted due to global uncertainty around COVID-19, spend volumes across all segments steadily recovered as we progressed through the quarter,” Smith said in a letter that went along with the earnings release.

WEX, a FinTech provider throughout a broad array of verticals such as fleet, healthcare and travel operates in over 10 nations and in 20 nations via roughly 5,000 associates throughout the globe.