Las Vegas-based fintech and payment technology supplier Sightline Payments announced a strategic investment from Searchlight Capital Partners, a leading global private investment firm with more than $8 billion in assets under management. The transaction establishes a post-money valuation of $525 million for the company.
In the same announcement, Sightline disclosed that Kirk Sanford, co-founder and CEO of Sightline Payments, is retiring and resigning from the company’s board of directors. Joe Pappano, a 30-year payments and gaming industry veteran and formerly president of Sightline’s Americas Division, has been named CEO.
“Sightline is undergoing an exciting and important transformation, and Joe will be an incredible leader, a fierce customer advocate, and is an industry powerhouse. I am confident in his ability to deliver truly phenomenal business performance,” said Sanford.
“I also want to offer my sincere thanks to my incredibly talented colleagues and to the Sightline board for their guidance and leadership during my tenure. Searchlight is a first-class firm that values and respects those who built the company and whose capital, strategic guidance and operational support will help create considerable long-term value.”
“Kirk has been an exceptional visionary and during his tenure grew the company into a leader in the fintech industry,” said Sightline Payments co-founders Tom Sears (chief operating officer) and Omer Sattar (executive vice president, strategy). “Thanks to his many years of hard work, dedication and guidance, Sightline is well-positioned to continue its leadership role in digital payments technologies for the entertainment and gaming ecosystem. The new capital from Searchlight, plus the addition of seasoned and proven executives in key roles will help drive our efforts to be a customer-centric, highly efficient growth company.”
“We have tremendous respect for the work Kirk, Joe and the rest of the management team at Sightline Payments have done over the last 10 years in developing breakthrough innovations in payments technologies,” said Christopher Cruz, managing director at Searchlight. “The company is well-positioned to ride the secular trends of consumers’ demand for cashless and digital payments and significant end market expansion. Searchlight is proud to partner with the Sightline management team and co-founders in this investment and to support the acceleration of its growth and innovation.”
Sightline serves many of the premier gaming and entertainment operators in the U.S., including the top-10 sports betting and gaming operators. The company is poised for significant growth with 60-plus programs live in 39 States.
Additionally, sports betting is now legalized in 25 states with ballot initiatives underway in more key markets. Play+, Sightline’s flagship solution for seamless and secure pay-and-play with nearly 1.5 million enrolled accounts, is the leading cashless mechanism for users to safely and easily store money and fund their entertainment on gaming apps, on the gaming floor, and on sports platforms with instant access to their money, anytime, anywhere, from a smartphone.
Customers can also use their Play+ account for transactions at restaurants, retail or e-commerce outlets, and can make ATM withdrawals to easily access their funds while earning valuable loyalty benefits.
