WEX To Buy Evolution1 For $532.5 Mln.

(RTTNews) - Payment solutions provider WEX Inc. (WEX), Monday revealed it has agreed to buy Evolution1, a prepaid health benefits card company, for $532.5 million in cash from private equity firm Genstar Capital.

South Portland, Maine-based WEX plans to close the deal in third quarter of 2014 and expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted profit in the first 12 months.

WEX plans to fund the acquisition through cash on hand and credit facility. Boards of both the companies have unanimously approved the deal, but requires usual regulatory approvals.

"The acquisition of Evolution1 advances WEX's long-term strategy to extend our scalable business model into high-growth, high-value markets with complex payment systems," said Melissa Smith, WEX's president and chief executive officer

Evolution1, which was formed through merger of Evolution Benefits Inc. and Lighthouse1 LLC, processed over 65 million transactions and $5 billion in payment volume last year. The company serves about 90,000 employers and 10 million consumers in the US and Canada.

WEX closed Monday's trading at $98.80, down $1.33 or 1.33%, on the NYSE. The stock, further gained $1.33 or 1.35%, in after-hours trade.