LEAWOOD, KANSAS - Electronic payments provider Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: EEFT) says it has acquired the assets of Austin International Marketing and Investments, Inc. (AIM), a U.S.-based top-up company that sells prepaid services via point-of-sale terminals in 36 states.
According to a news release, Euronet will use AIM's resources to enhance the company's U.S. prepaid program, called PaySpot, which enables consumers to purchase wireless airtime and long distance calling plans from ATM and POS terminals.
AIM, which was founded in 1999 in the Kansas City area, distributes prepaid services through a network of more than 140 independent sales agents representing more than 3,500 retail locations. Of those, more than 1,700 locations have electronic distribution of prepaid services via a POS terminal.
AIM has distribution agreements with all the major U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T Wireless, Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, ALLTEL and Tracfone, as well as several regional carriers. AIM also distributes several full-service prepaid long-distance programs, prepaid MasterCard, age verification and gift and loyalty programs.
According to the release, AIM's assets were purchased on an "earn-out" basis, with $1.9 million of the purchase price being paid at closing in cash and Euronet stock and the remainder being paid over two years based upon defined financial results of the network purchased. The purchase should be accretive to the net earnings of Euronet.
"Currently the U.S. prepaid service market is fragmented with a lot of small companies providing a minimum of services. We expect the prepaid landscape to change dramatically in the future, and we believe that this partnership with Euronet and its PaySpot program will help us be one of the leading providers in the nation," said Joseph P. Bodine, AIM chief executive, in the release.
PaySpot was launched in 2002 with support from a number of ATM industry partners including Concord EFS, Genpass Technologies and a number of ATM manufacturers including Triton, Tidel, Nextran and WRG. PaySpot has since signed more than 25 ISOs with more than 25,000 supported ATMs to market the PaySpot program.
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The system supports online electronic top-up at retail locations via ATMs, POS terminals or through integrated electronic cash registers for retailers with multiple locations and multiple checkout points.
