Blackhawk Buys CashStar For Approx. $175 Mln - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Blackhawk Network Inc., a global financial technology company, announced it has acquired CashStar, Inc., for approximately $175 million in cash. CashStar is a provider of gift card commerce solutions at the forefront of mobile payments and digital gifting. The CashStar Commerce platform is used by merchants to increase revenue, reduce costs and optimize customer experiences across channels, and the CashStar Exchange platform is used by gift card distributors and loyalty programs to procure and deliver gift cards from leading brands.

Blackhawk expects the acquisition to be at least earnings neutral in fiscal 2017 and meaningfully accretive after synergies in 2018, adding $12 million to $15 million in adjusted EBITDA, $3 million to $5 million in adjusted net income and $0.05 to $0.09 in adjusted EPS.

"The acquisition strategically enhances Blackhawk's ability to provide the right digital solutions to our partners to meet the changing needs of business customers and consumers. With the addition of CashStar, Blackhawk is now a leading provider in the fast growing first-party digital market," Talbott Roche, CEO of Blackhawk Network, said.