On Top Down Under - Red Australia Sells For Aud 353 Million (eur243 Million)

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31st July 2010, 04:57am - Views: 819






Business Company Retail Decisions (ReD) 2 image










MEDIA RELEASE PR40642


On Top Down Under - ReD Australia Sells for AUD 353 Million (EUR243 Million)


LONDON, July 30/PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


    After impressive growth, Retail Decision's (ReD) Australian fuel card and

pre-paid businesses have expanded from modest minnows to market leading

enterprises.


    The announcement of the sale of ReD's Australian concerns to US fleet and

corporate card specialist Wright Express Corporation for AUD 353 million

reflects the substantial progress made under ReD's leadership and expertise,

to its value today as a highly lucrative and desirable acquisition.


    In the ten years since ReD bought the Australian fuel card business, the

company has flourished, with its management team steering it to increasing

levels of profitability and impressive business growth, to become the premier

multi-branded fuel card service in the country. This success was matched with

the energising of the pre-paid card business ReD bought five years ago, with

the company taking it from loss-maker to the fast growing and profitable

market leader that it is today.


    The value of these market-leading assets under ReD's management is

recognised with this move. Meanwhile, ReD will continue to concentrate on its

proven expertise in fraud prevention across the globe, including Australia.


    As one of the world's foremost providers of payment fraud prevention, ReD

will continue to develop and internationalise its business, and is excited by

the prospect of on-going expansion into emerging markets in the future, using

the same expertise which nurtured ReD Australia to its current value.


    Carl Clump, CEO of ReD, said: "The astounding growth of our

businesses in Australia is a credit to all our staff over the years, and I

would like to thank them all very publicly. Under ReD's management our

Australian Fuel Card business has gone from being the number three

multi-branded fuel card to being the market leader. Additionally, its

profitability has increased some 15 fold over that ten year period.


     Since 2005, when ReD bought its pre-paid business in

Australia, the business has grown from a small loss-making concern to a

profitable and rapidly growing market leader with a dominant market share.

These are two excellent assets which will continue to go from strength to

strength under Wright Express's ownership.


    ReD will now put all its efforts behind its renowned,

international payments fraud prevention business. We are very excited about

the opportunities ahead of us on a global basis for our fraud prevention

activities"


    About Retail Decisions


    Retail Decisions (ReD) is a world leader in card fraud prevention and

payment processing. A specialist supplier to the payments industry worldwide,

ReD has over 20 years experience in the fraud prevention market. Its

blue-chip international clients come from the global telecommunications,

Business Company Retail Decisions (ReD) 3 image

retail, travel, petroleum, banking and the broader e-commerce sectors. They

include Wal-Mart, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Sears, Tesco, Texaco, Shell, Asda,

Boots, John Lewis, The Carphone Warehouse, Comet, Travelocity, T-Mobile and

Virgin Mobile. The company has offices in the United States, UK, Mainland

Europe, Australia, China and South Africa with representation in India,

Japan, and South America.




    Palamon Capital Partners


    Palamon Capital Partners is an independent private equity partnership

founded in 1999 and focused on providing equity for European growth services

companies. Palamon originates, executes and manages investments across

Europe. The firm targets investments in companies where the partnership's

experienced investment professionals can provide strategic direction and help

build equity value.


    The Firm manages Palamon European Equity and Palamon European

Equity II, capitalised at EUR1.1 billion. This makes one of the largest pools

of private equity capital dedicated to growth investment opportunities in

Europe's mid market arena.


    For more information on Palamon refer to http://www.palamon.com


    About Wright Express


    Wright Express is a leading global provider of payment processing and

information management services. Wright Express captures and combines

transaction information from its proprietary network with specialized

analytical tools and purchasing control capabilities in a suite of solutions

that enable fleets to manage their vehicles more effectively. The Company's

charge cards are used by commercial and government fleets to purchase fuel

and maintenance services for approximately 4.5 million vehicles. Wright

Express markets its services directly to fleets and as an outsourcing partner

for its strategic relationships and franchisees. The Company's business

portfolio includes a MasterCard-branded corporate card as well as TelaPoint,

a provider of supply chain software solutions for petroleum distributors and

retailers, and Pacific Pride, an independent fuel distributor franchisee

network, as well as international subsidiaries. For more information about

Wright Express, please visit wrightexpress.com.


    Retail Decisions Ltd Contacts:



    

    Carl Clump, CEO

    Tel : +44(0)1483-794926

    Email : ceo@redplc.com

 

    Kami Boyer

    Head of Group Marketing

    Tel: +44(0)7900-577276

    Email: kboyer@redplc.com

 

    Angela Yore

    PR Office

    Mobile: +44(0)7738-822956

    Tel : +44(0)1625-525-441

    Email : angela@skyparlour.com


    SOURCE: Retail Decisions (ReD)


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