Calera Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm, today announced that Paul Walsh and Clyde Thomas, both formerly of eFunds Corporation, have joined Calera as Operating Partners.

In partnership with Calera, Messrs. Walsh and Thomas will focus on making investments in the business and financial services sectors with a particular focus on transaction processing, payments and other technology outsourcing and information-based services. Calera intends to commit $50 to $200 million of equity per investment in a range of transaction types which may include recapitalizations of private and public companies, growth equity investments, public-to- private transactions and leveraged buyouts. Calera will also be focused on working with large, diversified financial institutions, regional banks and business services consolidators in the sale or spin-off of their non-core assets and divisions.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Paul and Clyde given their strong track record of building middle-market businesses and their substantial experience in the financial and business services sectors,” said Jim Farrell, Managing Partner at Calera. Added Mark Williamson, Managing Partner at Calera, “Calera has a long tradition of successfully partnering with seasoned industry operators. This relationship will further reinforce Calera’s differentiated approach to creating strong investment returns through the use of operational and strategic insights to improve business performance.”

“We are delighted to be working with Calera,” stated Paul Walsh. “Their focus on partnership and their understanding of how to build sustainable value in underlying businesses is a strong fit with our backgrounds and objectives.” Added Clyde Thomas, “Calera has generated extremely strong returns by focusing on fundamentally improving the businesses in which it invests. Our experience and industry knowledge together with Calera’s proven investment model should allow us to identify some very interesting investment opportunities.”

Paul Walsh and Clyde Thomas have partnered together in several different engagements for more than 13 years and collectively have more than 60 years of business and financial services experience. Most recently, Walsh was the Chairman and CEO of eFunds Corporation, where he engineered a dramatic improvement in the company’s operating performance and stock price. eFunds Corporation (NYSE: EFD), formerly a publicly traded company, was recently acquired by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS) for approximately $1.8 billion. Walsh has also been in various senior leadership positions at established businesses including Wright Express (CEO), BancOne Diversified Services (CEO), Norwest Capital Management and Trust (SVP) and Diners Club Germany (CEO). Walsh serves on the board of directors for Staples and is on the Board of Fellows at Thunderbird, School of Global Management.

Clyde Thomas has extensive information technology experience and, most recently, was the Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Technology and Operations at eFunds Corporation. He has served on several industry associations and boards including: a sponsor of the MIT Center for Information Research; an advisor to the University of New England Center for Business Information Technologies; board member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council; and, advisor to Arizona State University’s WP Cary School.

About Calera Capital Founded in 1991, Calera Capital is a middle market private equity firm which has managed more than $2.5 billion of equity capital in investments with total transaction values of approximately $7 billion. With offices in San Francisco and Boston, Calera invests in a number of industries, including business services, financial services, food and consumer, building products, healthcare and industrial manufacturing, typically in companies with enterprise values up to $1 billion, and seeks to build long-term sustainable value by working with management teams to implement strategic and operating initiatives. More information can be found at www.caleracapital.com.

For More Information Contact:
Michael Mandelbaum
Mandelbaum Partners
(310) 785-0810
michael@mandelbaumpartners.com