UPDATE 2-MasterCard acquires software provider Orbiscom
(Adds comment from MasterCard executive, details about Orbiscom, MasterCard stock price)
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Credit card network MasterCard Inc (MA.N) said on Monday it has acquired software provider Orbiscom Ltd for $100 million to enhance its payments processing system.
Part of the purchase price for Dublin-based Orbiscom -- owned by European private equity investor HgCapital -- is contingent on the future performance of the business, MasterCard said.
The deal was built from a partnership between the companies that created MasterCard inControl, a platform featuring authorization, transaction routing and alert controls to assist financial institutions in payment offerings.
Orbiscom produces payment processing networks that allow financial institutions to interact with credit, debit and prepaid cardholders. The company has about 50 employees in New York and Dublin.
"It really opens our network up to innovation," Wendy Murdock, chief product officer at MasterCard, said in a conference call with analysts and reporters.
MasterCard shares were up 3.7 percent to $155.37 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
HgCapital, which manages 2.0 billion pounds ($2.95 billion) for institutional and private investors, invested in Orbiscom in 2001. The sale of Orbiscom ends a wave of asset sales by the private equity firm that began in 2005 and generated proceeds of 2.0 billion pounds, HgCapital said. (Reporting by Juan Lagorio, editing by Derek Caney and John Wallace)
