Canada’s Nuvei to buy Paya for $1.3bn

Canadian fintech Nuvei is to acquire US-based integrated payments provider Paya, in a deal worth US$1.3 billion.

The two companies announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Nuvei to acquire Paya in an all-cash transaction at $9.75 per share, for a total consideration of approximately $1.3 billion.

Paya, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, serves customers in markets such as B2B, government, utilities, non-profit and healthcare end markets. In total, the payments platform processes more than $45 billion of payment volume annually.

“The proposed acquisition of Paya is a powerful next step in the evolution of Nuvei, creating a pre-eminent payment technology provider with strong positions in global ecommerce, integrated payments and business-to-business,” said Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s chair and CEO.

Faver added that the proposed acquisition will combine two “people-first, technology-led, high-growth” payment platforms.

“It will accelerate our integrated payment strategy, diversify our business into key high-growth non-cyclical verticals with large addressable end markets and enhance the execution of our growth plan,” he said.

Private equity firm GTCR acquired Paya in 2017 and, in October 2020, Paya became a NASDAQ-listed public company.

According to Nuvei, integrated payments is the highest-growth card payments distribution channel in the US.

Jeff Hack, CEO of Paya, added that the transaction with Nuvei is “a testament to the incredible talent at Paya, and will deliver immediate and significant cash value to Paya shareholders”.

“Nuvei’s acquisition of Paya marks a significant milestone in the transformation of this business,” said Aaron Cohen, managing director and head of financial services and technology at GTCR.

“Since the initial corporate carveout from Sage, the company has worked side-by-side with our team to implement a growth strategy centered on investing in technology and an enhanced product suite to reach new customers in attractive markets.”