VeriFone Expands European Market Strategy

VeriFone Expands European Market Strategy

  • Announces Formation of Two Focused Management Teams
  • Appoints Former Ingenico Executive to Key Leadership Position

SAN JOSE, CA, June 2, 2008–VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) announced today a significant new market initiative in its European, Middle East and African business by reorganizing management and sales and marketing efforts into two market-focused teams, one focused on continental Europe and the other focused on Northern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Yolanda Rousselet, a former key Sagem Monetel and Ingenico executive, has been appointed to the position of general manager for continental Europe. Nigel Bidmead, a long-time VeriFone executive, has been named managing director for Northern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

For the past five years, Rousselet served as head of international sales at Sagem Monetel, now a subsidiary of Ingenico. In that period, Rousselet grew Sagem’s international business from under 10 million Euros per year to nearly 120 million Euros per year.

Under Bidmead’s leadership, VeriFone’s EMEA revenues have increased several times over since 2002 and now exceed $225 million dollars annually.

Douglas G. Bergeron, CEO of VeriFone, said: “We have a goal to double our sales in these regions over the next several years. By implementing this divide-and-conquer strategy we can effectively deploy additional resources and focus management efforts on the many countries in these regions, particularly in continental Europe, which presents attractive expansion opportunities for VeriFone. This announcement highlights our deep commitment to our customers and employees in these countries.”

Rousselet will be responsible for VeriFone activities in continental Europe, including Russia. Rousselet is a Spanish national residing in France, and is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Russian. Before joining Sagem Monetel in 2003, Rousselet worked for Ingenico, first as general director of Ingenico Russia, then as business development director of Ingenico Data Systems, the software division of Ingenico Group at that time. Earlier, she was co-founder and sales director of AJEST, a consultancy advising companies doing business with Russia. Rousselet graduated from Universidad Complutense of Madrid and was awarded a Master of Arts by the University of Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Bidmead has been a key contributor and a member of the original VeriFone management team that led the company through its birth as a standalone company outside of Hewlett-Packard, its initial public offering, and through several key acquisitions. Bidmead’s new responsibilities for Northern Europe include the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, and also VeriFone’s business in the Gulf States and Africa.

About VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (http://www.verifone.com)

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (“VeriFone”) (NYSE: PAY) is the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide.