TSYS announced it has completed its acquisition of TransFirst, a leading U.S. merchant solutions provider. TransFirst and TSYS’ existing merchant businesses will be combined under the TSYS brand to create the 6th largest merchant acquirer in the U.S. based on revenue and the 3rd largest integrated payments provider in the U.S. TransFirst’s president and chief executive officer, John Shlonsky, has been elected as Senior Executive Vice President of TSYS, and will lead the combined businesses reporting to Pam Joseph, president and chief operating officer-elect of TSYS.
TransFirst is a market leader with its partner-centric distribution model supporting more than 1,300 integrated technology and referral partners in strategically attractive areas that include integrated software vendors, healthcare, not-for-profit, referral banks, associations and e-commerce.

The combined businesses serve some 645,000 merchant outlets in the U.S. with approximately $117 billion in transaction volume. The business will continue its focus on the large and growing small and medium size business market, enhancing TSYS’ offering and position in the high-growth areas of integrated payments, e-commerce and omni-channel services.

“The acquisition of TransFirst, gives us the technology, scale, and distribution capabilities that propel us to a leadership position within merchant acquiring similar to the scale and strength we have in issuer processing and prepaid program management. Our position and strength in these three key areas of payments further diversifies our business and makes TSYS unique among its peers,” said M. Troy Woods, chairman, president and chief executive officer, TSYS. “We are excited to have John and his team on board, and believe the growth and expansion of services to the business community will drive long-term shareholder value.”

“Moving forward from the excitement of this day, and becoming a part of TSYS, our mission is to leverage our joint capabilities and products seamlessly, so our customers are able to rely on just one provider for their processing services,” said John Shlonsky, president and chief executive officer, TransFirst. “We will combine automation and technology to support an integrated platform to deliver relevant products and solutions to our partners and merchants — not just process transactions.”

TransFirst previously operated as a privately held company, under the ownership of Vista Equity Partners.

TSYS Completes Acquisition of TransFirst/p. 2

"We are delighted that with John's continued leadership, the technology, scalability and talent that TransFirst is bringing to TSYS will be integrated to drive further innovation and leadership in the industry," said Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Vista Equity Partners.
Additional details about the acquisition, as well as revised 2016 guidance for TSYS, will be discussed on the company’s first-quarter analyst call on April 26, 2016.