Seeking Payments and Digital ID Advantage, PE Firm Acquires Fime, UL Solutions Payments Testing Business

[Correction 5/8/2024: An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that Gallant Capital had acquired UL Solutions entirely. It has been corrected to indicate that Gallant Capital acquired only UL Solutions’ payments testing business.]

Gallant Capital has acquired both Fime and the payments testing business of UL Solutions in a bid to enhance its payments and digital ID portfolio.

Gallant Capital is a private equity firm based in LA, California, and specializing in middle-market investments. It typically targets companies that are well-positioned for growth or transformation and supports them through strategic guidance, operational improvements, and capital investment to enhance their market positions and achieve sustainable growth.

France-based Fime, meanwhile, is known for services designed to ensure the efficient and secure deployment of electronic transactions and products like smart cards, mobile payment solutions, and digital banking. The company provides testing tools, certification processes, and advisory services to help businesses comply with industry standards and leverage emerging technologies effectively.

Gallant Capital also acquired the payments testing business of UL Solutions, an Illinois-based testing, inspection and certification company. It helps companies demonstrate safety, confirm compliance, enhance sustainability, manage transparency, deliver quality and performance, and advance societal well-being.

In a statement announcing the acquisitions, the companies highlighted how the combined companies would serve stakeholder interests “across payments, smart mobility and digital ID”, adding that Fime in particular would be granted broader global reach to address the emerging trends of “open banking, instant payments, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), digital wallets, open payments and digital identity.”

Fime CEO Lionel Grosclaude explained Gallant Capital’s acquisitions in terms of a “convergence of payments, smart mobility and identity” in the modern world.

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May 7, 2024 – by Cass Kennedy