As you undoubtedly know by now, National Processing recently sold its check processing division, NPC Check Services, Inc. What you might not know, is that the company has also sold two other portions of its business: freight services and corporate payables.
National Processing announced in February that it was selling its freight services and corporate payables business lines to Investment Services International Co. LLC of Washington, D.C., for $36 million. Then, in April, National Processing announced that NPC Check Services Inc., was being sold to International Payment Services Inc. (See issue 990502, cover story.)
But that's not all. National Processing also wants to sell its remittance business, according to Jim Cate, chief financial officer. The sale of that business is being negotiated and should be announced soon.
The check processing, freight services, corporate payables, and remittance divisions lost a reported $511,000 during the first quarter of this year. National Processing as a whole lost $68.2 million for the first quarter. The sell-off is hoped to help the company focus on its profitable business lines which include merchant credit card processing, outsourcing services, and travel-related business lines. Cate said National Processing probably will hire another 400 workers to staff the merchant credit card processing business during the next two years but the company doesn't anticipate significant growth in travel services.
