Lovell Minnick Partners Announces Acquisition of Fintech Firm Merchant Industry; Appoints Vaden Landers as CEO

PHILADELPHIA & LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merchant Industry, LLC (“MI”, or “Company”) a fintech company operating successfully within the merchant acquiring landscape, today announced a majority acquisition by funds managed by Lovell Minnick Partners (“LMP”), a private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, business services, and financial technology companies. The MI founders will maintain a substantial minority equity stake in the go forward business, while the Company will be managed by a new leadership team, beginning with the appointment of industry veteran Vaden Landers as Chief Executive Officer upon closing.

Founded in 2007 with offices in Plantation, Florida and Long Island City, New York, Merchant Industry is a leading provider of payment acceptance solutions to small and mid-sized businesses across the U.S. With a customer base of more than 15,000 merchants, a network of nearly 500 channel partners, boasting a robust suite of partner tools and best-in-class products and services that serve to facilitate payment acceptance at the point-of-sale, whether in-person or online, MI is well positioned to expand its reach and capabilities under Vaden’s leadership alongside the strategic support and capital from LMP.

The founders of MI emphasized their enthusiasm for the new partnership. Leo Vartanov, Co-Founder of MI, commented: “LMP is the right partner for us as we enter this transformational phase where the business matures and scales beyond its current capabilities. LMP possess extensive institutional knowledge, an impeccable reputation, and a 25-year history of achieving results across the businesses they have invested in. The blending of capital, their comprehensive understanding of our business, and the newly assembled executive leadership team led by Vaden made this partnership the obvious choice for my partners and me as we continue our ascent to the top of the fintech mountain.”

Reflecting on the opportunity ahead, Vaden Landers added: “Merchant Industry is a high-performing business that has established a strong market position. This transaction allows us to build on the momentum Leo and his team have created, while providing strategic leadership, infrastructure, and capital to scale the business with purpose. We will actively pursue organic growth initiatives underpinned by an expansion in our distribution capabilities, complimented by strategic M&A. Ultimately, our mission will be to preserve what makes MI successful, while unlocking new opportunities for innovation, operational efficiency, and value creation across the broader payments ecosystem.”

MAPP Advisors served as exclusive sell-side advisor and Vedder Price acted as legal counsel to Merchant Industry. Dechert LLP served as legal counsel to Lovell Minnick Partners.

About Merchant Industry

Founded in 2007, Merchant Industry is a leading nationwide credit card processing service provider. Merchant Industry excels in delivering best-in-class products and exceptional customer service to third-party distribution partners and their merchants. The company’s expertise extends to credit card processing solutions for businesses of all sizes and industries, serving a diverse clientele of over 15,000 merchants and processing over five billion of transaction volume annually. Visit Merchant Industry for more information.