London – January 27, 2020 – ICM Limited (ICM) and UIL Limited (LSE:UTL) (UIL), announces today the signing of a definitive agreement under which WEX, Inc (NYSE:WEX) (WEX) will acquire Optal Limited (Optal) and eNett International Limited (eNett) for a combined c. US$1.7 billion. Optal is a leading global fintech offering digital payment solutions including virtual account numbers (VAN), credit and debit solutions for large scale payments in the travel, insurance and other industries. eNett is a joint venture between Optal and Travelport Worldwide Limited which provides a VAN based travel commerce platform.
ICM and UIL first invested in Optal in 2012 as part of our fintech investment thesis. Since investing, Optal has grown significantly; including being recognised in the past year by the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200; the London Stock Exchange Group’s prestigious 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report; the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100; and The Nilson Report, as one of the top credit card issuers in Europe by purchase volume and the Financial Times’ fastest growing companies in Europe. Optal today is one of the largest companies in the respective ICM and UIL technology investment portfolios (with ICM’s technology exposure now managed through the Allectus Capital fund, a joint venture between ICM and UIL).
Charles Jillings, Chief Executive at ICM Investment Management, said “having been long term shareholders and supporters of the company, the acquisition by WEX is a testament to the high growth, quality business that the teams at Optal and eNett have built in less than a decade – becoming one of the largest global providers of digital payments technology. We look forward to seeing the combined platform grow to the next level.”
The acquisition of Optal and eNett is subject to various conditions, including regulatory approvals and is expected to close by mid 2020.
ENDS
About ICM Limited
ICM Limited (“ICM”) is an international Fund Manager and Corporate Finance Adviser headquartered in Bermuda, with 10 offices globally. Our expertise is in listed equity, private equity, and fixed income bonds. We specialise in the following investment sectors: utility & infrastructure, financial services, mining and resources, technology, and fixed income. Since 1988, ICM has evolved to become a global organisation, currently managing over US$2.3bn in funds directly and responsible indirectly for a further US$17.8bn of assets in our respective funds’ subsidiary investments. Our technology investment exposure is through the Allectus Capital fund which is managed by ICM and owned equally by UIL Limited (LSE:UTL, a listed fund managed by ICM) and ICM itself. Read more at www.icm.limited , www.uil.limited and www.allectuscapital.limited