Princeton Payment Solutions Acquired, But Jobs Stay in NJ

NJTechWeekly.com learned at close of day Friday that Princeton Payment Solutions (PPS), Princeton, N.J., had been acquired by Financial Transaction Services (FTS), an electronic transaction-processing services provider based in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. FTS processed more than $5.5 billion in bank card volume in 2011.

“We can’t discuss the value of the offer,” Stephanie Levine, marketing manager at PPS, told us, though she did say the company will continue to operate under its original name. PPS “is absolutely staying in New Jersey,” and no significant changes to the firm’s ongoing operations are anticipated. In fact, Levine said, “we are looking to quickly expand with top-notch talent across the board.” Asked what that meant, she explained the company “is expecting to hire a few people,” but declined to give specifics.

The only major management change to the company is that Robert Nathan, FTS director of business development, will be joining PPS as president, taking over the company’s day-to-day operations, Levine said. Everyone else is continuing on in their positions, she noted.

PPS CEO Kevin McGuire said the acquisition would “allow us to combine our enterprise-level gateway and payment technology” with FTS’s “acquiring platform.” This should benefit both companies, he said.

$35 Million Investment in iCIMS Means More Monmouth County Jobs

21 Jan 2012 | by Esther Surden |

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Hazlet-based iCIMS received a $35 million minority investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE, Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) last month. The company, which provides human resources software as a service (SaaS), says it sees tremendous growth in the small and medium business market and will use the investment to address that market.

According to Susan Vitale, chief strategic officer, iCIMS plans to use some of the investment to hire in New Jersey. The company now has about 200 employees across its operations, with approximately 140 in N.J. By the end of 2012 it expects to add 85 more positions, 75 percent of them in N.J., Vitale said. The firm is looking to add software engineers and marketing and product management personnel.

Vitale said company headquarters will remain in Monmouth County, although "I can't commit 100 percent to staying in Hazlet, because we are bursting at the seams," she noted. Much of the company's talent pool consists of New York commuters tired of traveling to the city. "iCIMS does a lot of college recruiting as well. We do a really good job of bringing in young, hungry talent from Monmouth County who may have gone to school elsewhere … We have a great corporate culture,” which makes iCIMS competitive for software engineers, she added.

iCIMS experienced explosive growth in 2011, adding an average of one new customer every business day, Vitale said. The firm was included in the Inc. 500|5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies for the sixth consecutive year.

Profitable and privately held since 2003, iCIMS had been pouring money back into its operations. “There is a huge opportunity right now. Ours is an $11.1 billion dollar industry, and among small- and medium-sized businesses there is a lot of greenfield [opportunity] out there in terms of folks who do not yet have a system. We felt this was the right time to approach the market aggressively,” Vitale said.

Colin Day, iCIMS president and CEO, said while the company could have achieved growth on its own, the investment “will help us dramatically accelerate our aggressive expansion plans. We look forward to offering deeper and broader services and support to our users.”

SGE's Scott Feldman, Amir Goldman and Jonathan Klahr will join the iCIMS board of directors. All three currently serve on the boards of multiple software companies. iCIMS was represented in the transaction by Raymond James & Associates.

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