BREAKING NEWS: South Jordan, Utah-based GPS Capital Markets is Being Acquired for $725 Million by NYSE-Listed Corpay

South Jordan, Utah-based GPS Capital Markets, a 22-year-old foreign exchange company, announced yesterday (shortly after midnight on Thursday, 20 June 2024) that it is being acquired for $725 million by Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered Corpay (NYSE:CPAY).

Although the news release announcing the acquisition did not disclose the amount Corpay is paying to acquire GPS Capital Markets, our reporting on the matter discovered that Corpay's Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission explains that Corpay is paying $725 million to purchase GPS Capital Markets.

However, it should be noted that neither the GPS Capital Markets news release or the Corpay news release announcing the acquisition (let alone Corpay's Form 8-K filing with the SEC), discloses the form of payment for the acquisition, whether cash, stock, a combination thereof, or something else.

As is often common in acquisitions involving one or more publicly traded companies, the announcements both stated that "... subject to regulatory approval and standard closing conditions ...," the companies wrote that the purchase is "... expected to close in early 2025."

That said, the Corpay CEO and Chairman, Ron Clarke, did clarify during its investor call that the company expects to close the acquisition on or before 01 January 2025.

{COMMENTARY: It should be noted that Corpay's stock price finished the trading day yesterday up $10.00/share, a gain of 3.96% to $262.45, suggesting that investors liked the news of the acquisition.}

As noted in Slide No. 3 from Corpay's investor presentation (shown above),

• GPS Capital Markets has over 1,250 customers, with
• 75% of its revenue coming from the United States, with
• Revenue growing ~19% on an annual compounded growth rate (CAGR) since 2016,
• Producing a projected ~$100 million in revenue fiscal 2024 revenue, with
• An EBITDA in the mid-40% range (Earnings Before Income Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization).

In other words, Corpay is either paying roughly

• 7.25X for GPS Capital Markets (on a top-line revenue basis), or
• 16.11X for GPS Capital Markets (from an EBITDA standpoint, with an assumption of an EBITDA of 45%),

depending upon which multiple is used.

Corpay (the formerly known FLEETCOR Technologies), is a corporate payments company that helps businesses and consumers "... better manage vehicle-related expenses (such as fueling and parking), travel expenses (e.g., hotel bookings) and payables (e.g., paying vendors). "

FXpert: The No. 1 Award-Winning FX Platform from GPS Capital Markets

GPS Capital Markets' primary software platform, FXpert, was named in January 2023 by Global Finance magazine as the world's Best System for Assessing Risk and Hedging Strategy.

GPS Capital Markets currently has 16 offices around the world, and (as noted in the company's facts sheet for FXpert), shown below, in 2023 its FX platform

• To trade over $40 billion in Forex trades, via transactions across
• More than 190 countries and
• Over 145 currencies.

To be clear, given Corpay's historical focus on corporate payments management, I'm not 100% sure how GPS Capital Markets fits into the Corpay product/service mix, especially since GPS clearly helps its clients conduct foreign exchange trades (aka, Forex or FX).

But, it looks like the deal is happening, so congrats to

• Brandon Parke, President and CEO of GPS Capital Markets,
• Brent Bailey, Chief Operating Officer of GPS Capital Markets, and
• Brett Gibbons, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer of GPS Capital Markets, as well as

all other members of Team GPS Capital Markets.

Additionally, for better or worse, kudos on being one of the best kept FinTech secrets in all of Utah.

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