Convera completes transition from Western Union Business Solutions

US-based Convera has announced the completion of the Western Union Business Solutions acquisition, which was initiated in 2021.

Specifically, former European business Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) has completed its transition to Convera after a USD 910 million acquisition in 2021. This final close is important for Convera because it allows it to focus more on its investments and plans to transform the cross-border payments landscape in the following years. 

Clients such as small business owners, enterprise treasurers, NGOs, financial institutions, law firms, and educational institutions all work with Convera. According to the company press release, the company has decades of industry expertise, and it uses its technology-led payment solutions to offer smarter money movements to tens of thousands of customers around the world. 

Convera representatives talked about the transition and brought up the company’s transformation over the past two years while building on the legacy of Western Union Business Solutions. They also revealed their plans to continue this transformation through innovation and new partnerships with their customers around the globe. 

Convera is a global B2B payments company, providing payments services and foreign exchange products to companies of all sizes. With expertise in managing foreign exchange and moving funds around the globe, Convera offers access to over 140 currencies and a financial network spanning more than 200 countries and territories.

The acquisition timeline

Western Union Business Solutions was acquired by Goldfinch Partners, LLC and The Baupost Group in 2021. Following the acquisition, a decision was made to rename the company to Convera. 

Moreover, it was decided that the team of executives filling new roles in the independent company would join WUBS’s executive team, providing consistency and continuity of leadership for customers, counterparties, and employees.  At the time, the closing of the acquisition was subject to requisite works council and trade union consultations, regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions. 

According to Convera, with 1,800 employees in over 30 offices globally, WUBS was one of the world’s largest non-bank providers of cross-border business payment and foreign exchange solutions processing over USD 110 billion in total payments volume in 2020. 

In March 2022, Goldfinch Partners LLC and The Baupost Group, LLC announced they reached a major milestone, namely the initial closing in the acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions. The transaction would close in two stages, with the second closing being subject to the receipt of regulatory licenses and approvals.