Boston, MA. March 31, 2003 - Great Hill Partners announced today the acquisition of Vigo Remittance Corp. by GMT Group, Inc. GMT Group was formed by Great Hill Partners, in partnership with Mario Trujillo, to acquire privately held businesses in the electronic funds transfer sector. Vigo is a leading provider of electronic funds transfer services, providing remittance services to over 33 countries around the world. In 2002, the Company transferred approximately $2.5 billion in dollar volume of orders. During the past five years, Vigo has experienced compound annual growth in excess of 30%.
"Vigo provides our group with a tremendous opportunity to continue to build the premier company serving the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) electronic funds transfer markets and to develop one of the largest global funds transfer businesses. The combination of this outstanding business platform, our experienced management team and a terrific financial partner in Great Hill will allow us to accelerate the momentum of Vigo's existing business," stated Mario Trujillo, Chief Executive Officer of GMTG.
"We have teamed up with a world class management team to acquire the largest privately held company in this rapidly growing market," stated John Hayes, Founder and Managing Partner of Great Hill. "GMT Group is well positioned to create significant value."
Great Hill Partners and management provided all the equity for the transaction. Bethesda, Maryland-based American Capital Strategies provided GMTG and Vigo with an Acquisition Financing Facility and a Revolving Credit Facility to acquire and grow the business.
According to Celent Communications, a Boston-based research and advisory firm, the worldwide market for remittances (funds sent from immigrants to their country of origin) exceeded $140 billion in 2002. Remittances to the LAC region constitute the largest segment of this worldwide market and are expected to exceed $42 billion by 2005.
"Migration around the world, driven by regional economic and political pressures, is a phenomenon that continues to create the need for a secure, convenient, electronic alternative to send money and connect families on a real-time basis. Vigo provides a low cost, consumer-friendly approach to this large and growing market consisting of tens of millions of customers around the world. We look forward to bringing professional management to accelerate Vigo's growth and increase its profitability, further enhancing Vigo's market position," stated Trujillo.
As part of this transaction, John Hayes and Devin Mathews of Great Hill Partners will join Mario Trujillo on GMTG's Board of Directors.
About Great Hill Partners
Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that manages over $1 billion in capital and focuses on investing in companies in education, business services, media, information, IT, and communications sectors. Great Hill Partners is currently investing its $460 million fund, Great Hill Equity Partners II, L.P., and is targeting investments of $10 million to $50 million. For more information, visit www.greathillpartners.com.
