Cayan, a payment processing company that has been around the Boston fintech scene for the last 19 years, is in the process of getting acquired by Total System Services in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.05 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
Based in Columbus, Georgia, Total System Services – best known as TSYS – is a public financial services company with 11,500 employees, almost 50 times the headcount of Cayan’s workforce (250 people as of last June).
Based in Downtown Crossing, Cayan is best known for its flagship Genius platform, which delivers a scalable unified commerce experience across different channels. In May, the company unveiled Genius Mini, a device that handles payments to a unique business made by tablets from a variety of sources, including chip cards, mobile wallets and credit and debit cards.
“What we’re seeing is that a lot of merchants and businesses want to use an iPad solution, a tablet solution either at the point of sale or in the aisle or at the table,” Henry Helgeson, co-founder and CEO of Cayan, said in an interview with BostInno this summer. “What we’ve done is made it very easy for them to integrate this very tiny device… with tablets.”
Helgenson founded the company in May 1998, when he lost his job at another credit card company. In 2016, Helgenson said that Cayan moved over $20 billion through its platform. The company, which is based in both Boston and Belfast, recently completed a $4 million renovation of the Boston office.
“Cayan and TSYS are aligned with our strategy to provide cutting-edge payment solutions and a robust product offering to merchants across the U.S.,” Helgeson said in a press release. “We’re excited about the opportunity to bring innovative products to a broader customer base.”
“The acquisition of Cayan strategically complements our merchant goals to become a leading payment solutions provider to small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. by delivering ‘best in class’ services and solutions,” said M. Troy Woods, chairman, president and CEO of TSYS.
