ProvencoCadmus payment business sold

Photo / Kenny Rodger

SmartPay is buying the payments division of collapsed ProvencoCadmus for an undisclosed amount.

The agreement with the receivers of ProvencoCadmus includes the New Zealand and Australian payments operations, transactional business and all intellectual property relating to payments.

SmartPay managing director Ian Bailey said the deal quadrupled the size of his business.

"The combined business will make us the largest Eftpos supplier in New Zealand. We will have about 25,000 to 30,000 installed terminals," he said.

His company had funding in place, he said, without going into detail.

SmartPay will take on between 50 and 60 ProvencoCadmus staff as a result of the transaction.

Provenco, one New Zealand's largest providers of Eftpos related products and software, merged with Cadmus in 2007, with the intention to develop the company into a major international provider of payment terminals.

It went into receivership this month due to unsustainable debt, lack of investment capital and a weaker than expected trading performance in its retail automation business.

The deal increases SmartPay's product offering, said Bailey.

He said ProvencoCadmus was a supplier to SmartPay and the two companies had worked together on major contracts.

"The shared history, common links and synergy between both businesses is very strong. Many of the staff who assisted in establishing Cadmus are now employed by Smartpay so we understand the ProvencoCadmus payments business very well."

Initially the ProvencoCadmus business will be run separately from the current SmartPay business so that both entities remain focused on their business plans and strategies.

In early August the directors of ProvencoCadmus asked ANZ National Bank to appoint receivers because of insufficient funds to meet working capital requirements.

Michael Stiassny and Brendon Gibson of KordaMentha were appointed and said they would seek to sell the company's businesses as going concerns. ProvencoCadmus employed a total of 180 people. It had debt of $45m.

- NZPA