SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — South Portland payment technology company WEX Inc. plans to buy a Tennessee-based competitor for more than $1.4 billion in the company's largest acquisition to date.
The Portland Press Herald reports WEX has signed an agreement to buy Electronic Funds Source of Nashville for about $1.1 billion in cash and 4 million shares of common stock.
WEX is expanding into payment processing markets for health care and tourism. It made the largest acquisition in its history last summer when it acquired North Dakota-based health care payment technology company Evolution1 for $532.5 million.
Electronic Funds Source is owned by investment funds affiliated with New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC.
WEX is one of the largest employers in southern Maine, where it employs about 700 people.