ypercom Corp. sold all assets of its leasing subsidiary, Golden Eagle Leasing, Inc., to Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. on October 9, 2003 for $30 million in cash.

Northern Leasing, headquartered in New York City, said it plans to consolidate Ridgefield, Conn.-based Golden Eagle's operations under the Northern Leasing name. Golden Eagle provided micro-ticket (priced under $5,000) leases to merchant card processors, equipment vendors and MSPs.

Thirteen-year-old Northern Leasing is also a lessor of micro-ticket equipment (priced under $10,000) and specializes in providing leases and financial services for point of sale credit card terminals.

The company has been working toward growth through strategic acquisitions, Jay Cohen, Founder, President and CEO of Northern Leasing said. Before founding Northern Leasing in 1991, Cohen was a sales rep for an ISO, selling both POS terminals and credit card processing.

Hypercom sold Golden Eagle to continue focusing on its electronic payment and transaction processing business and improving profitability, Chris Alexander, Hypercom Chairman and CEO said.

As a result of the transaction, Hypercom will recognize a fourth quarter pre-tax gain on sale of approximately $7 million, which will be included in income from discontinued operations. The net proceeds from the transaction are projected to be between $28.5 million and $29 million after transaction closing and employee severance expenses. As of June 30, 2003, Hypercom reported it had $51.6 million in cash, including about $14 million related to Golden Eagle.

"And I expect that our leadership position within the industry, now complemented by a war chest approaching $80 million, positions us well as an acquirer or business partner of choice," Alexander said in a statement.

In July, Hypercom closed its subsidiary The Horizon Group's St. Louis facility. It transitioned services to Hypercom headquarters in Phoenix and transferred additional Horizon customers and services to TASQ Technology.