- Silver Lake has hired investment banks to lead a potential IPO of payment processing company Mercury Payment Systems, reports Reuters. The news comes not far behind reports competitor Square is exploring an IPO.
- A source says the Mercury IPO could come in 2014 H1 and the company could be valued at $2.5B - a funding round last year valued Square at $3.25B. Mercury booked revenue of $203M in 2012 vs. Square's expectation of $550M this year.
- Silver Lake purchased about 60% of the company in 2010, leaving founders Marc and Jeffrey Katz and existing investor Larry Stone owning the remainder.
- Other competitors include: EBAY (PayPal), GRPN, INTU, and PAY.