Hypercom Corporation was an Australian company which was a pioneer of electronic payment processing hardware and software. It was acquired by rival VeriFone in 2011.
History
Hypercom was founded by Hungarian born George Wallner, David Saul, Brian Pascoe, and Leslie Fritz in Sydney Australia in 1978. It went on to dominate the South Pacific region in terms of payment terminals. In 1988 the company signed a deal with American Express to provide its terminals to them in the US. To consolidate the deal, Hypercom moved its head office from Australia to Arizona in the US. It then faced head-to-head competition with VeriFone on its home market.[1]
On April 4, 2011, Ingenico announced its agreement to acquire Hypercom's U.S. Payment Systems Business prior to the close of the VeriFone acquisition [2] On the same day it announced that its UK and Spanish operations would be sold separately to a private investment company and this business was renamed as Spire Payments.[3]
On May 12, 2011, The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block the proposed acquisition of Hypercom by VeriFone saying the planned sale of Hypercom's U.S. POS terminal business to Ingenico does not resolve the antitrust concerns [4]
On August 4, 2011, VeriFone announced its completion of the acquisition of Hypercom U.S. business after reaching a settlement with antitrust regulators to sell Hypercom's U.S. payment systems business to an entity sponsored by investment firm Gores Group LLC [5] Simultaneously, KleinPartners Capital announced the acquisition of Hypercom Spain S.A. and Hypercom UK, with Kazem Aminaee, the former President of Hypercom Europe, Middle East, and Africa, forming Spire Payments [6][7]
On September 30, 2011, Hypercom US announced it formally changed its corporate name to Equinox Payments, LLC.[8]
External links
References
- Hypercom Corporation History Funding Universe, retrieved December 8, 2015^
- Ingenico Agrees to acquire Hypercom's U.S. Payment Systems Business Reuters, April 4, 2014^
- Hypercom UK and Spain Acquired by Spire Payments Reuters, August 4, 2011^
- Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit to Stop VeriFone from Buying Hypercom and Entering into Anticompetitive Divestiture Agreement with Ingenico Department of Justice, May 12, 2011, retrieved 14 January 2023^
- VeriFone, Hypercom complete merger after reaching agreement with Justice Department Yahoo Finance, August 4, 2011, retrieved 14 January 2023^
- Hypercom UK and Spain Acquired by Spire Payments Reuters, August 4, 2011^
- Company Overview of Spire Payments Ltd. Bloomberg Business, retrieved December 8, 2015^
- Payment Industry Leader Hypercom USA Changes Name to Equinox Payments, LLC Reuters, September 30, 2011^