WUBS To Be Rebranded Convera, Recruits Amazon Pay Exec As CEO

Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) is slated to acquired by Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group in a $910 million deal that will rename the business Convera, according to a press release on Thursday (Aug. 12).

Under the new standalone entity, former Amazon Pay executive Patrick Gauthier will become the CEO of Convera upon the approval of the acquisition. A FinTech specialist, Gauthier held leadership roles at PayPal and Visa and also holds patents in the payments space, and is seen as a thought leader in the future of worldwide commerce and payments.

“Following the closing, Convera’s global scale and existing customer base set it apart from competitors in the space, and given the breadth of our regulatory footprint and bank network, I believe we’re well-positioned to accelerate growth,” said Gauthier. “I am honored to work with the stellar WUBS management team as we build Convera into a market-leading fintech company.”

The WUBS spinoff Convera specializes in business-to-business (B2B) cross-border payments and foreign exchange solutions.

See also: Western Union Debuts Money Transfers Through UnionBank App In Philippines

Additional appointments to the new company include Andrew Summerill as chief financial officer; Dharmesh Syal, chief technology officer; Jody Visser, chief transformation officer; and Drew Weinstein, chief commercial officer.

WUBS has 1,800 employees in more than 30 offices across the map and is among the global leaders of non-bank providers of cross-border business payment and foreign exchange solutions, according to the release. The company processed $110-plus billion in payments last year alone.

The company also serves some 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, financial institutions, law firms, and NGOs in more than 40 countries and territories. It also handles money transfers and other payments in 140 currencies.