Cardtek Receives Private Equity Investment from MV Holding and Revo Capital

Cardtek, a leading provider of payment technologies, is aiming to further strengthen its presence in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific with an equity investment made by MV Holding and Revo Capital. Cardtek, developing end-toend solutions in payment systems in many countries across the globe since 2001, is now taking firm steps toward its goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 financial technology companies.

MV Holding, founding partner of Turkey’s leading GSM operator (NYSE: TKC / BIST: TCELL), and Revo Capital, a Netherlands-based technology fund, have become 24% shareholders in Cardtek. Cardtek is currently providing payment technologies and services to more than 150 customers in 25 countries, including banks, processors, telecom operators, retail and public transit services. With this investment, the company will further strengthen its presence in North America, Europe, Middle East and AsiaPacific.

BTS & Partners based in Istanbul, Turkey, represented both investors in the deal. Team members who lead the deal were Selin BECENİ (Partner) and Zeynep ÜNLÜ (Senior Associate), attorneys in the corporate team of BTS & Partners responsible for leading various M&A, Venture Capital and Private Equity transactions.

ADVISOR INTERVIEW

BTS & Partners is a law firm based in İstanbul, Turkey practicing with a particular focus on Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector, which is being recognized as the leading firm in its sector every passing year. BTS & Partners mostly represents clients ranging from multinational technology companies to venture capital and private equity funds and entrepreneurs, and actively take part in Mergers & Acquisitions, Investment and Compliance projects realized in the sector.

What was your specific role in aiding the process of Cardtek’s investment?
Selin BECENİ (Partner) and Zeynep ÜNLÜ (Senior Associate) lead the deal, representing both investors. The role involved conducting a comprehensive legal due diligence, providing legal advice for structuring the deal, drafting the deal documents, participating to the deal negotiations and ensuring consummation of the closing.

What prompted the investment?
Despite being a start-up company, Cardtek with its considerable and rapid growth has become a booming company creating solutions in so many aspects to the significant actors in the Fintech sector. Apart from that it has a unique standing in the market, which, in our opinion, led it to attract such important investors that will take it to a much better position, not only with the money they have injected, but also with the vision, experience and wisdom they have brought.

As the lawyers, who were involved in almost every phase of the deal, we are glad to take part in such significant deal, which required us to deal with and manage so many issues in a solution and focus oriented practical manner and hence helped us to improved our business mind-set.

What were the challenges, if any, of bringing the investment to completion?
Even Cardtek is a start-up company, it has an intensive growth rate compared not only to the start-ups, but also to many of the other actors in the market. With all of such particularities, the deal itself was unique and complex in many ways. However due to our expertise, which enabled us to know the sector and business fairly good as well as to our solution oriented attitude, which enabled us to mitigate problems / create remedies / solve problems, instead of merely raising them and nevertheless due to the enthusiasm, practicality and desire of the parties involved, we manage to overcome any issues that are encountered.