Sage Eyes Sale Of US Payments Assets (Maybe)

Payroll and accounting company Sage could say goodbye to its North American payments operations.

Reports Wednesday (Dec. 7) said Sage is considering a selloff of its U.S. payments business. The U.K. company reportedly said it is exploring “potential strategic operations” for the assets.

“There can be no certainty that this evaluation will lead to any transaction,” the company noted.

But reports said Sage’s North American SMB and European Enterprise segment was recently labeled an underperforming area for the firm, as was its North American payments operation. Competition from technology conglomerates like Apple, Google and PayPal are squeezing Sage from the market, reports added.

That doesn’t mean Sage is struggling everywhere, however.

According to reports, Sage was declared the largest technology company in the U.K. after Softbank acquired ARM Holdings earlier this year.

Overall, the company’s most recent fiscal year report signaled strong growth for the company and supported Sage’s plans to expand in 2017 via strategic investments.

According to the firm’s chief executive, Stephen Kelly, Sage will look to roll out 27 new cloud-based solutions next year with a goal of its clients having “zero back-office admin” by 2020.

“By then, our ambition is that — certainly for startups and entrepreneurs — they will be in a world with Sage where they have no financial administration but can run their business from a smartphone in the palm of their hands through whatever platform they choose,” the executive told investors last month.