Point of sale financer FlexiGroup will extend its Australian operations through the acquisition of the retail point of sale funding business operated by Certegy Australia. FlexiGroup will pay $31.4 million for the Ezi-Pay operation.The consideration will compose $15 million cash on hand, a $15 million interest-only subordinated vendor note with final maturity extendible to three years, and three million FlexiGroup shares at $0.47 issued to Fidelity National Information Services, the US parent of Certegy Certegy retains its core business in Australia of processing credit card transactions for banks, a segment in which it is probably the market leader.FlexiGroup said it would cut the dividend payout ratio to around 40 to 50 per cent of net profit to fund the repayment of the vendor note. The company said it expected to cut the November dividend to three cents fully franked, down from 5.5 cents.Financial year 2008 profit guidance was confirmed at growth of between eight to twelve per cent ahead of the proforma financial year 2007 profit.Under the agreement, FlexiGroup will acquire 100 per cent of Certegy's operations in Australia and New Zealand, but this excludes the current Certegy Ezi-Pay receivables portfolio.Ezi-Pay funds the purchase of goods or services from a network of small retailers.FlexiGroup said it expected the acquisition to increase annual assets financed by more than $250 million a year, and lifting customer contracts originated from around 100,000 to over 250,000. The firm will also pick up a customer database of 450,000 names.Future Ezi-Pay receivables will be funded by two of FlexiGroup's existing funders with two-year committed facilities. FlexiGroup also disclosed that it had wound down its personal lending portfolio.FlexiGroup shares listed early 2007 and traded between $2.60 and $3.20 for the first six months, before beginning a downward slide to recently experienced twelve-month lows of $0.38. The stock traded on moderate volume yesterday, remaining unchanged at $0.48, valuing the company at around $108 million.FlexiGroup brands include Flexirent, FlexiOwn, EzyWay and Flexiway through a distribution network estimated by the company as 5600 active retailers and travel agencies, including Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming and Apple.