Nuvei buys US rival Paya in $1.3 billion deal
Canadian fintech company Nuvei has acquired Paya, a payment technology provider that went public in 2020 through a blank-check deal, for nearly $1.3 billion including debts.
The deal comes at a time when the payments sector is consolidating as large providers have been scooping up smaller players to scale and diversify their business. Paya has enjoyed strong growth during the last year, having grown its marketcap by nearly a quarter despite the challenges of higher interest rates and inflation.
Paya offers integrated payments and commerce solutions that help insurers, utilities, nonprofits and other customers collect payments and process checks, among other services. The Georgia-based company also seeks to dig further into the B2B sector which is usually non-cyclical and less susceptible to shifts in macroeconomic conditions than retail payments as it involves dealing with several domestic and overseas merchants.
Per its websites, Paya serves more than 2,000 government agencies and municipalities in the US, processing over 8 million payments per year, and delivering over $1 billion in revenue. Paya’s software is also integrated with 300+ software vendors, which is said to position Nuvei to capitalize on the domestic and global software-led market opportunity.
“The proposed acquisition of Paya is a powerful next step in the evolution of Nuvei, creating a preeminent payment technology provider with strong positions in global eCommerce, Integrated Payments and business-to-business (“B2B”),” said Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s chair and CEO. “The proposed transaction 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.”
Paya CEO Jeff Hack added: “We continue to see strong momentum in our high-growth and underpenetrated middle market partners in durable end-markets, and believe that Nuvei’s resources will enable us to continue our mission of solving complex business problems with easy-to-use payment solutions.”
Nuvei plans to plug Paya’s integrated payment capabilities into its technology platform to enhance customer proposition and growth opportunities.
The collaboration will also leverage Nuvei’s infrastructure proprietary fraud and risk management tools through integration with its subsidiary, Simplex. The latter enables merchants to accept diverse payment methods, including credit card deposits and purchases, with zero exposure to chargeback risk. The service caters to different market participants including exchanges, brokers, wallet and liquidity providers.
