Fifth Third, Advent reach $561M deal

Regional U.S. bank Fifth Third Bancorp said Monday it sold a majority share of its payment processing business to Advent International Corp.

The $561 million deal gives Advent 51 percent of the profitable business, leaving Fifth Third with 49 percent, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.

Advent has a long and impressive record of investing in and growing payment processing companies to achieve exceptional results, Fifth Third Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Kabat said in a statement.

Kabat said the deal will significantly enhance the ability of our processing business to generate even stronger results in the future.

The newspaper said Fifth Third has lost money for three consecutive quarters. Analysts expect the bank to post more losses in the first quarter this year, although not as much as the fourth quarter of 2008, when it lost $2.2 billion.

The losses may have prompted the sale to Advent, The Plain Dealer said.