CardConnect Corp. has acquired Chicago, Ill.-based financial services provider MertzCo Inc.

MertzCo markets and resells credit, debit, gift and loyalty cards, as well as other payment process services. Its merchant accounts processed about $1.5 billion of annual payment processing transaction volume in 2016.

Pursuant to the transaction, MertzCo CEO Michael Mertz was named CardConnect's chief sales officer. Additionally, Mertz was granted an inducement stock option to purchase 400,000 shares of CardConnect at an exercise price of $13.10 per share, which was the closing price of the company's common stock April 3.

Ledgewood PC acted as counsel to CardConnect Corp. Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP represented MertzCo Inc.