GTCR and Genstar both lose in SVS auction

Instead, Comdata is pursuing a joint venture of SVS with First Data Corp., the payment processor backed by KKR, sources said. On Tuesday, First Data acquired Transaction Wireless Inc., which offers a digital gift card platform, which is considered complimentary to SVS, one of the sources, a banker, said.

Louisville, Kentucky-based SVS is a provider of gift cards. The company also manages gift card programs for retailers globally.

In January, Comdata put SVS up for sale. Barclays was tapped to advise on the process. GTCR and Genstar as of June were the remaining bidders vying for the gift card provider, Buyouts reported. SVS was expected to fetch bids of more than $600 million but offers instead came in in the “high $400s,” Buyouts reported.

The low offers caused Comdata to reconsider whether to sell the company, sources said

In November, FleetCor Technologies closed its $3.45 billion buy of payment processor Comdata. Ceridian, a portfolio company of Fidelity National Financial and Thomas H. Lee Partners, was the seller.

Executives for Fleetcor, GTCR and Genstar declined comment.