Advantage Partners and Bain Capital Purchase Payment Provider MEI Conlux from Mars, Inc.

Advantage Partners, one of the foremost private equity firms in Japan, and Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm, today announced they have entered into an agreement to acquire unattended payment systems provider MEI Conlux from Mars, Incorporated. MEI Conlux is the global leader in payment acceptance systems used widely in vending, gaming, transport and retail applications.

The transaction is subject to normal regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania and Sakado, Japan, MEI Conlux has the world’s largest installed base of unattended payment systems, handling over 1 billion cash transactions every week. In 2003, Mars purchased Conlux, the leading Japanese payment provider, and combined it with MEI to create the leading global business in unattended payment systems.

“We enjoy strong industry relationships, a heritage of technology innovation and the number one or number two position in all of our business segments,” said Mike Hayes, who will continue as President of MEI Conlux. “This positions us for significant growth and gives us the opportunity to invest more aggressively in new segments and geographies. The management team looks forward to working with Bain Capital and Advantage Partners to expand our business and introduce new technologies to improve service to our customers and consumers.”

“MEI Conlux has a strong competitive position and superior technology which we believe will yield excellent growth in retail and gaming, as well as the core vending and transport businesses,” said David Gross-Loh, a Managing Director at Bain Capital in Tokyo. “Bain Capital and Advantage Partners teamed up to leverage deep industry expertise and local market knowledge in Japan, the U.S. and Europe to quickly assess the prospects for the business.”

Bain Capital recently established offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong to pursue investment opportunities in Japan and China. The firm has a strong track record of purchasing non-core divisions of large, multinational companies and partnering with the management team and employees to build significant value.

“The company has built strong leadership positions by investing in research and development to create technology that offers customers real benefits including lower total cost of ownership,” stated Richard Folsom, Representative Partner at Advantage Partners, which is based in Tokyo. “We believe MEI Conlux has significant growth potential in the key segments where it currently competes, as well as in certain new segments. We look forward to supporting management in executing the growth strategy globally.” Advantage Partners, which established the first buy-out fund in Japan in 1997, brings significant operations and management expertise to its investments.

Financing for the transaction will be provided by Citibank, N.A., Tokyo Branch and Nikko Citigroup Limited. Mars Incorporated was advised by Goldman Sachs.