Goldfinch and Baupost acquire Convera for $910m

Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group have acquired Western Union Business Solutions for $910 million. WUBS, which will be renamed as Convera, is a B2B global payments firm.

PRESS RELEASE

LONDON and SEATTLE (March 1, 2022) – Goldfinch Partners LLC and The Baupost Group, LLC announced they reached a major milestone today with its initial closing in the acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) for $910 million. WUBS, which will be renamed Convera as a new standalone B2B global payments company, had a record 2021 with over 20 percent revenue growth and payments volume of $170 billion. Patrick Gauthier, who was most recently the Global Head of Amazon Pay, will serve as Convera’s CEO.

Mr. Gauthier commented: “At Convera, our purpose is to make global payments so easy that every business around the world can grow with confidence. Convera combines the agility of a fintech with the scale, sophistication, and breadth of capabilities of a global financial institution. We intend to bring innovation, value, and exceptional service to our customers with focused investments in our product offerings, technology, and people.”

Convera is the largest non-bank fintech in global B2B payments and makes cross-border money transfers simple and stress-free, allowing its customers to scale globally with ease. The business has an exceptional global reach with capabilities in 140+ currencies across 200+ countries and territories, and 60+ global banking partners. Convera’s customers include more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, financial institutions, law firms and NGOs.

“We are excited to reach this important milestone in Convera’s next chapter”, said Bill McNichols, managing partner and co-founder of Goldfinch Partners. ”We’re especially excited to be bringing Patrick on board, who we have known and admired for years. We have full confidence in his ability to further position Convera for significant growth, with its unparalleled scale, diverse and loyal customer base, and breadth of solutions.”

Convera will add several veteran fintech professionals to its leadership team with experience at companies including Amazon, BCG, BCG Digital Ventures, PayPal and Visa. These include Jodi Krause (Chief People Officer), Dharmesh Syal (Chief Technology Officer), Jody Visser (Chief Transformation Officer) and Drew Weinstein (Chief Commercial Officer). They are joining the existing WUBS leadership team including Michel Foricher (Head of Operations), Andrew Summerill (Chief Financial Officer) and Tristan van der Vijver (Chief Compliance and Risk Officer).

“We believe that investment in Convera’s talent, technology and product will help accelerate the company’s leading position in an attractive and growing end-market,” said Ryan Duffy, managing director, The Baupost Group. “We are thrilled to be a part of Convera’s evolution, as it enhances the experience for employees, customers and partners.”