WEX Moves Forward In Electronic Funds Source Takeover

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WEX took an important step in its efforts to acquire Electronic Funds Source (EFS), a deal first announced late last year.

Reports on Friday (June 17) said commercial payments player WEX received approval from the Federal Trade Commission. The company said it still intends to close the deal by the third quarter.

The FTC cleared the EFS acquisition without conditions, reports added.

WEX announced last October that it would take over EFS for $1.1 billion, plus 4 million common stock shares, a deal totaling up to $1.4 billion. At the time, reports said the takeover would help WEX, whose commercial payment operations include fleet payments, soften the blow from declining oil prices.

The EFS takeover was revealed just days after WEX announced a separate acquisition of Benaissance for $80 million, which propelled the company deeper into the health care payments space.

WEX’s most recent earnings report revealed a resilient financial position for the company. It surpassed expectations, fueled in part by rising corporate travel. According to WEX CEO Melissa Smith, volumes in the corporate travel segment increased by 18 percent.

The executive also pointed to growth in its virtual card operations and spoke of plans to expand its fleet payments business with new products.