Brookfield-based financial services technology developer Fiserv Inc. could get up to $10 million in tax credits from the state to keep its headquarters in Wisconsin.
The company is currently considering moving its headquarters. A special session of the state Legislature, which began Tuesday, includes a review of a financial incentive to attempt to keep Fiserv from moving the headquarters out of state. That proposal allots up to $2 million per year for five years to Fiserv if it keeps at least 93 percent of its full-time employees and its headquarters in Wisconsin.
Real estate sources have told BizTimes Milwaukee that Fiserv is considering four Milwaukee area sites for its new corporate headquarters location. However, the company has operations all over the world, including a substantial presence in the Milwaukee area and has not ruled out the possibility of moving its headquarters out of state. In May, president and chief executive officer Jeffery Yabuki said the company is looking “primarily in the Milwaukee area” for its new headquarters site.
Fiserv did not respond to requests for comment about the legislation.
Rose Oswald Poels, president and chief executive officer of The Wisconsin Bankers Association, applauded the legislation and emphasized the importance of keeping the Fiserv headquarters in Wisconsin.
“Southeast Wisconsin has a cluster of financial services activities in three key market segments: banking and finance, investments, and insurance. Fiserv is a component of that and helps diversify the economic base and provides southeast Wisconsin with a sustainable base of professional expertise and skills. The financial services landscape is dynamic and Wisconsin must maintain high-quality employers to support the banking, investment and insurance industries.
“Having Fiserv stay in the state helps raise the level of service to businesses and adds a community-based technical expertise that Wisconsin needs in order to remain competitive. WBA would like to thank Gov. (Scott) Walker and other lawmakers for recognizing the role Fiserv plays in Wisconsin’s economy and choosing to make the company part of the discussions regarding economic development in the Badger State.”
The company also this afternoon reported its second quarter profit increased 4.2 percent from last year.
Net income was $221 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, in the second quarter, up from $212 million, or 94 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2016.
Operating income was $372 million, up from $362 million in the year-ago quarter.
Total revenue was $1.4 billion, flat from the second quarter of 2016.
Fiserv reported $15 million in merger, integration and other costs in the quarter, up from $7 million in the same period last year. The company is in the process of acquiring London-based Monitise plc for about $89.1 million.
The company also reported a $10 million gain on the sale of a business during the second quarter. While the business was not named, Fiserv did announce in February it would sell the assets of its Item Processing Business to Genpact.
Fiserv develops payment, processing, risk and compliance, customer and channel management and insights and optimization products for banks and credit unions. The Fortune 500 company had $5.5 billion in revenue in 2016 and has about 23,000 employees at 120 global offices.
