NewSpring Ventures L.P. Recognizes Another Success Story Portfolio Company Ecount Inc. Sold to Citigroup Inc.
March 01, 2007
Radnor, PA, March 1, 2007 - NewSpring Ventures, L.P., a NewSpring Capital Fund, announced that it has successfully exited its investment in Ecount. Ecount has been acquired by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), one of the world’s largest banks, for an undisclosed amount.
Ecount has provided customized prepaid card solutions for corporations looking for simple and convenient ways to deliver payments including compensation and promotions. Established in 1997, the Company serves a base of more than 1,200 corporate clients across North America. Ecount’s paperless payment solutions allow corporations to reduce costs, strengthen brand awareness and increase efficiencies.
The acquisition of Ecount by Citi represents a successful transaction for the employees, customers and investors of Ecount. The combination of these two will allow the Ecount team to continue to build on their vision, while leveraging the breadth of resources of Citi. “Working with Citi is the ideal choice for Ecount,” said Matt Gillin, CEO and Co-founder of Ecount. “Citi is a global leader in banking, with robust payment platforms, deep client relationships and innovative technology. This matches Ecount’s position in the prepaid card market. Together, we will be able to optimize and strengthen our position in this expanding market by developing world-class solutions.”
“Ecount can look to two or three critical decision points in the growth of the Company wherein NewSpring and its value-added contributions really made a difference.” stated Mr. Gillin.
Glenn Rieger, General Partner at NewSpring Capital and a former Ecount board member, stated, “We at NewSpring are extremely pleased to have been part of this Ecount success. To assist a company in executing on its growth strategy and becoming a leader in their market is extremely rewarding. Working with passionate and talented business leaders such as Matt Gillin and Paul Raden, the co-founders of Ecount, is the part of my job that I enjoy the most. They did an excellent job executing on the Company’s vision and thankfully produced for all of us a very attractive outcome-- more than 8 times our investment cost basis.” Mr. Rieger added, “This exit is the second for NewSpring Ventures this year and the fifth overall for the Fund.”
About NewSpring Ventures, L.P.
NewSpring Ventures is a venture capital fund providing equity capital to growth and expansion stage companies with a focus on enabling and information technologies and business services, NewSpring Capital, based in Radnor, PA, is a family of specific purpose private equity funds, with approximately $400mm under management, focused on the Mid-Atlantic region and also includes NewSpring Healthcare, L.P., a venture capital fund focused on intermediate- and late-stage life science and healthcare companies, and NewSpring Mezzanine Capital, L.P., a mezzanine private equity fund focused on late stage and buyout opportunities in information technology, healthcare, business services and specialty manufacturing. To learn more about NewSpring Capital, please visit www.newspringcapital.com.
About Ecount
Ecount provides customized prepaid programs for corporations looking for a simple, convenient and cost effective way to deliver payments. Leveraging Citi’s extensive payment platform and Ecount’s experience and proprietary prepaid technology, corporations have access to an unmatched solution that enables comprehensive communication and unique brand extension, coupled with more immediate, economical payment delivery. With solutions ranging from incentives to compensation to specialized rewards, Ecount programs empower corporations looking to influence and motivate consumers, employees and partners. Over 1,200 leading corporations, including more than one-third of the Fortune 100, rely on Ecount’s prepaid solutions to gain a strategic market advantage. For more information, please visit www.ecount.com.
About Citi
Citi markets itself as the most complete financial partner to corporations, financial institutions, institutional investors and governments in the world. As a global leader in banking, capital markets, and transaction services, with a presence in many countries dating back more than 100 years, Citi enables clients to achieve their strategic financial objectives by providing them with cutting-edge ideas, best-in-class products and solutions, and unparalleled access to capital and liquidity.
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under the trademark red arc include: Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Citi Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.