Sage North America Announces Intent to Acquire PayChoice

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 22, 2014) -  Sage North America today announced an agreement to acquire privately-held PayChoice, a leading provider of payroll solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This acquisition will help Sage create greater value and peace of mind for SMBs by extending the company's portfolio of offerings to now provide its customers with easy to use online payroll solutions with seamlessly integrated services. 

Based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, PayChoice provides full-service and self-service payroll and HR services to more than 100,000 SMBs in the U.S., and has been serving the SMB market for more than 20 years. PayChoice enjoys high levels of customer satisfaction through a strong focus on customer experience and their range of payroll service solutions. PayChoice service solutions are delivered in real time via the Cloud, are flexible, and scale easily as businesses grow and their needs change. With the acquisition of PayChoice, Sage will take an industry-leading position for online payroll solutions to small businesses, accountants and financial institutions. The transaction is expected to close in October and is subject to customary closing conditions.

"PayChoice is an excellent business, with a strong management team, attractive cloud platform and a proven business model based on supporting the needs of small and medium-sized businesses and licensees," said Pascal Houillon, president and CEO, Sage North America. "We are excited about the growth opportunity that the combination of Sage and PayChoice creates in this market and delighted to welcome the management and staff of PayChoice to Sage."

Payroll and compliance with constantly changing employer regulations are two consistent challenges for SMBs. This acquisition will enable Sage to provide intuitive payroll solutions as well as integrated ancillary services such as tax filing and direct deposit as part of the company's core offerings, making it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to consolidate and review business data, manage relationships, and simplify day-to-day operations.

"PayChoice is thrilled to become a part of Sage," said Robert Digby, CEO, PayChoice. "We already share so many synergies: our heritage of supporting SMBs, our culture, our emphasis on customer experience, and our focus on accountants and financial institutions. This is a great move for our company and we see nothing but tremendous opportunity in the future."

PayChoice is a portfolio company of Great Hill Partners, Baird Venture Capital and North Hill Ventures. Raymond James & Associates acted as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal advisor to PayChoice. William Blair & Company acted as financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to Sage.

Additional information about today's acquisition is available here.

About The Sage Group plc

We provide small and medium-sized organizations with a range of easy-to-use, secure, and efficient business management software and services -- from accounting and payroll to enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and payments. Our customers receive continuous advice and support through our global network of local experts to help them solve their business problems, giving them the confidence to achieve their business ambitions. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and entered the FTSE 100 in 1999. Sage has over 6 million customers and more than 12,700 employees in 24 countries covering the UK & Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia, and Brazil.

For more information about Sage in North America, please visit the company website at NA.Sage.com. Follow Sage North America on Facebook, Facebook.com/Sage, and Twitter, Twitter.com/SageNAmerica.

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