Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in the global financial services industry, has completed a significant growth investment in Fortis Payment Systems (Fortis), a payments technology and merchant services provider.
Financial terms of the private transaction have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in Novi, Michigan, Fortis provides payment technology and processing capabilities to developers and businesses throughout North America. The Company’s proprietary payments platform, Zeamster, creates integrated commerce experiences for software and ERP providers as they transform the way businesses interact with their customers.
“Fortis has developed a highly configurable, powerful payments platform with industry-leading technical and security capabilities, supported by superior high touch service,” says Trevor Rich, Partner at Lovell Minnick Partners. “We look forward to supporting CEO Jimmy Nafso and his highly talented team to identify new solutions and channel partners.”
Since its founding in 2010, the Company has been a market leader in developing vertical specific solutions and integrating with point of sale software and ERP providers in numerous end markets. Fortis supports hundreds of developers, software providers, and channel partners and provides services to merchants throughout North America.
“We’re excited to leverage Lovell Minnick’s strong track record of scaling technology-businesses. With Lovell Minnick’s support we will be able to accelerate Fortis’ expansion into additional markets and continue innovating best-in-class payments solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers,” says Nafso. “With Lovell Minnick as our new partner, our clients should remain assured that we will continue to provide ‘white glove’ customer service and innovative technology, which have been core to our value proposition since inception.”
“Jimmy and his leadership team have an excellent reputation in the payments industry. Their customer-centric approach is truly unique and the Zeamster micro-services platform is cutting edge with features to support a wide variety of businesses,” says Greg Cohen, an Operating Partner at Lovell Minnick and former president of the Electronic Transactions Association.
Lovell Minnick’s Trevor Rich and Greg Cohen will be joining the Fortis Board of Directors.
Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor and the Strawhecker Group served as payments advisor to Lovell Minnick. Butzel Long was counsel to Fortis.