Corsair Acquires Majority Stake in Aurora Payments

January 04, 2022 at 13:00 PM EST

Investment to Accelerate Growth of Full-Service Payment Solutions Provider

Corsair, a leading private equity firm targeting services, software, and payments investments in the financial services market, today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Aurora Payments (“Aurora” or “the Company”), a full-service payment solutions provider for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) across a variety of industries.

Founded in 2005, Aurora offers a one-stop-shop solution for partners and merchants seeking to accept and receive electronic payments. Aurora’s bundled offering provides merchants with a wide range of products, services, customer technology, and support capabilities, including point of sale (POS) equipment, transaction processing services, and the ability to transfer funds between banks and merchants. Aurora’s growing suite of technology solutions includes Rise, a proprietary end-to-end enterprise operating system with in-house CRM solutions, merchant-facing transaction processing applications, and a business intelligence-infused platform that enhances the merchant experience and generates real-time analytics.

Corsair will leverage its deep payments expertise to support the Company as it seeks to accelerate organic growth, enhance product and technology offerings, and continue building on a history of successful acquisitions. The transaction builds on Corsair’s significant experience investing in and supporting growth at payments companies, including REPAY, TreviPay, and Currencies Direct. Brian Goudie, Chief Executive Officer of Aurora, will continue to lead the Company and remain a shareholder.

“We’re thrilled to enter this next chapter with a trusted, long-term and growth-oriented partner like Corsair,” Goudie said. “With Corsair’s proven sector expertise, significant resources and relationship-driven approach, we are confident that we will be able to accelerate the growth of our business, further enhance our solutions and go-to-market strategy and support more clients with efficient and effective payment and technology solutions.”

“Aurora has a clear path to value creation through organic and inorganic growth opportunities, entrance into higher-growth sales channels, and investments in new or enhanced products and merchant services,” said Jeremy Schein, Partner at Corsair. “Aurora is one of the leading mid-sized, pure-play merchant acquirers with an enviable market position and multiple avenues for expansion. The Company’s dedication to solving its customers’ complex business challenges through innovative payments solutions makes it a natural fit within Corsair’s portfolio, and we look forward to working closely with Brian and his team to continue positioning Aurora for sustainable growth and success.”

William Blair acted as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Corsair. Leonis Partners acted as financial advisor and Honigman LLP acted as legal advisor to Aurora.

About Corsair

Corsair is a global specialist investment firm offering opportunities for investors and solutions for companies across financial & business services and infrastructure. The firm has almost three decades of experience partnering with businesses at the crossroads of technology transformation and financial services complexity and established its complementary infrastructure investment practice in 2015. Corsair has invested $12 billion in capital across its global buyouts and infrastructure platforms since inception.

About Aurora Payments

Aurora Payments is a united network of processing, technology, and payment solutions headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, with 22,000 merchants and $10 billion in annual processing. Over the years, Aurora has grown to capture a significant portion of nationwide market-share in various specific industries due to superior solutions, service, and vertical expertise. Aurora’s Client and Partners’ success drives the team to provide the best quality products, customer service, and technical support in the industry. Aurora’s goal is to help businesses of all sizes grow their revenue streams and increase efficiency through secure and compliant payment processing.