Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward
Six months after leaving point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc., Douglas G. Bergeron is leading a new enterprise targeting financial-services and payments companies for acquisition.
Dubbed Opus Global Holdings LLC, the new company has $500 million at its disposal to buy companies. Bergeron is collaborating with Chicago-based investment firm GTCR, which is funding $450 million of Opus Global. Bergeron is contributing $50 million.
This is not the first time that GTCR and Bergeron have worked together. The two were partners in 2002 in VeriFone following its separation from Hewlett-Packard Co. Bergeron left San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone in March following a poor financial showing. On Monday, VeriFone named Paul Galant as its new chief executive.
Bergeron anticipates considering a wide variety of companies, including those specializing in payments and regulatory and compliance services. “We’re trying to cast a net wide enough,” Bergeron tells Digital Transactions News.
Regarding potential regulatory and compliance services, Bergeron foresees much opportunity to create a company that can provide these services on a global scale. In particular, Bergeron pays attention to what banking executives are saying about increasing regulations, particularly their assertions that meeting these regulations will require them to spend more. “Compliance systems are going to be a great market and there really isn’t a global leader for these various compliance requirements,” he says.
International payments also are a focus for Palo Alto, Calif.-based Opus Global, Bergeron says. “Domestic acquiring is pretty slow growth,” he says. “But I’m a big believer in the long-term, upward trends in payments, particularly in emerging markets.” Such markets might include Latin America and Europe, he says.
Other payments areas Opus Global may consider include merchant acquiring, business-to-business payments, online wallets, mobile payments, and virtual goods.
While the news service Bloomberg quoted Bergeron as saying that perhaps one day even VeriFone might be a consideration, he downplayed that as his focus. “There is so much more exciting stuff, and they have so many exciting things to do,” Bergeron says. “I’m extremely proud of VeriFone. I don’t need to obsess the rest of my life over that one investment.”
Bergeron says Opus Global came about following his departure from VeriFone. “I started contemplating what I wanted to do in May or June,” he says.
