Warburg Pincus purchase of mercator only the first of many in Mena | The National

Warburg Pincus purchase of mercator only the first of many in Mena | The National:



"With hindsight, you might ask why it took so long for a shrewd investor to snap up mercator, the aviation software business bought by US private equity group Warburg Pincus (WP) earlier this year.



The business is one of the Emirates’ genuine success stories. It was set up in 1995 by dnata, the aviation services unit of the Emirates Airline group, and grew by offering software services to airlines in emerging markets in Asia and Africa. By 2007, it was serving a stack of carriers with financial accounting, cargo tracking, baggage handling and safety services.



Joe Landy, WP’s co-chief executive, saw the success of meractor and its potential, and bought it for an undisclosed amount (reckoned to be in the hundreds of millions of dirhams). “Significant progress has been made in carving out mercator as a standalone entity from dnata. The company has continued to make good progress and win new customers. Customer feedback on our investment in mercator has been very positive. Dnata and Emirates have proved to be excellent partners in mercator,” he says."



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