ScanSource's POS Portal Buy Creates Industry's Largest Payments Channel

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting merger and acquisition news from April.**

ScanSource Inc. is expanding its POS business with the acquisition of POS Portal, a 17-year-old distributor of payment devices and services, for approximately $110 million. It’s an all-cash transaction, plus an earn-out payment of up to $13.2 million to be made in November.

ScanSource’s Mike Baur

POS Portal offers resellers payment terminals, key injection services, reseller partner branding, encryption key libraries, P2PE encryption and redundant key-injection facilities. Additionally, in partnership with ISVs, POS Portal offers merchants integrated tablet POS solutions available via outright purchase or an as-a-service model through Portal Advantage.

According to ScanSource, the combined companies sell through complementary channels with little customer overlap — ScanSource focuses on the midmarket and enterprise merchants while POS Portal caters to small and medium businesses (SMBs). The acquisition will create the industry’s largest payments channel, ScanSource said.

“The acquisition of POS Portal uniquely positions ScanSource as a market leader in both the POS and payments channels,” Mike Baur, CEO of ScanSource, said. “POS Portal brings an excellent customer service reputation, highly regarded value-added services, and vast knowledge of the payments industry. Together, we will provide greater business opportunities for our solution-delivery channels. The tremendous culture fit between POS Portal and ScanSource will be exciting for our employees and customers,” he added.

The POS team, including Buzz Stryker, co-founder and CEO, and Scott Agatep, COO, will join ScanSource as part of the Worldwide Barcode, Networking and Security segment.

“ScanSource has been following our growth and strategy for a few years and saw the opportunity to expand our business model,” said Stryker. “As the payments channels converge, we and ScanSource are prepared to lead the channel with new services and solutions, and accelerate our strategic plan to provide the shopping and checkout infrastructure to tomorrow’s physical location merchant, in partnership with the channel,” he added.

The deal is expected to close in the quarter ending Sept. 20.