A Foothill Ranch wireless services gear provider has combined with a Miami company and inked a $7.5 million round of private equity funding.
Orange County’s Debisys Inc. and Florida’s Emida Technologies Inc. have taken the Emida Technologies name, with Debisys chief executive Dennis Andrews taking over out of the Foothill Ranch operation.
Emida’s former chief executive, David Brillembourg, is set to lead the company’s international operations as executive vice president, global business development, in Miami.
Terms of the combination weren’t disclosed.
The private equity funding was supplied by GRP Partners of Los Angeles, Stone Canyon Venture Partners LP of Beverly Hills and Richard L. Scott Investments LLC of Stamford, Conn.
Emida plans to use the funding to grow its sales, marketing and other operations.
Brian McLoughlin, partner with GRP Partners, and Philip Smith, a managing director with Stone Canyon, are set to join Emida’s board.
Emida provides wireless carriers with gear that allows convenience stores, check-cashing businesses and other stores to sell prepaid phone minutes, and provide a payment network that lets customers pay utilities, taxes, insurance and other bills over a wireless connection.
The combined company will provide service to 17 countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic and Colombia.
Debisys had a North American focus while Emida was better known in South America and the Caribbean.
Andrews declined to disclose the company’s annual sales. The combined company has 65 workers, including 45 from Emida.
More than 70% of worldwide cell phone calls are made using prepaid services, according to Andrews. Only in the U.S., Canada and Japan do more than half of wireless customers sign long-term contracts.
“The rest of the world is not as credit-oriented,” he said. “They don’t like the surprise on the phone bill.”
But prepaid wireless phone service has grown in the U.S. Big wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. have boosted their prepaid operations via acquisitions.
Sprint snatched up Boost Mobile LLC of Irvine a couple of years ago. Boost targets youths for its prepaid service and phones.
“Until a few years ago, the industry really only focused on advertising and marketing to people who had good credit,” said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst in Atlanta. “It’s (now) reaching out to groups of customers that the industry never paid attention to before five years ago.”
Andrews said the share of cell phone users with prepaid phone service in the U.S. has grown from 3% to about 15% since 2002.
The company also sees growth in Latin America. Emida helps wireless carriers facilitate country to country services such as money and long distance minute transfers, and Visa card payments.
These services have been popular with Hispanics in the U.S. who have relatives and friends in Mexico. Emida plans to launch the services in more countries, Andrews said.
