In a late March 17 statement, Nuvei confirmed that it is in talks with “certain third parties” about a potential takeover transaction that could lead to the Montréal payments company going private.
The statement followed a March 16 report from The Wall Street Journal that Boston-based private equity firm Advent International is in advanced buyout talks with the Montréal payments processor. BetaKit has not independently verified this report.
In response to news of the potential transaction, Nuvei shares responded on market open Monday by jumping up nearly 20 percent on the TSX.
Nuvei also confirmed that it had formed a special committee of independent directors to evaluate and consider “expressions of interest” it has received and other strategic alternatives that may be available to the firm. The company said current talks involve scenarios where certain key shareholders, including founder and CEO Phil Fayer, would retain significant ownership stake in the company.
Nuvei’s statement did not specifically confirm whether the firm had engaged in transaction talks with Advent, nor did it directly mention other significant voting shareholders, which include Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Novacap, and CFO David Schwartz.
“The company cautions readers that it has not entered into any agreements or understandings to effect a privatization or similar transaction, and there can be no assurance that any discussions that have taken place will result in any such agreements or understandings,” Nuvei said, adding it does not intend to comment on the process any further.
Founded in 2003 by Fayer, Nuvei provides tech-enabled payment solutions to merchants and partners operating in the gambling, online retail, financial services, and travel sectors. Its services include card issuing, banking, as well as risk and fraud management services. In 2023, Hollywood actor and serial entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds publicly announced his investment in the company.
Nuvei has made some high-value acquisitions of its own in recent years, including cryptocurrency startup Simplex for $250 million USD and payments tech provider Mazooma for $56 million USD in 2021. In early 2023, Nuvei also acquired American payments platform provider Paya Holdings for $1.7 billion CAD ($1.3 billion USD).
Nuvei has recently entered into a plethora of global payments partnerships, including Microsoft tapping the platform to accept payments in the Middle East and the Africa region, and adding Nuvei integrations into Adobe Commerce and Cash App Pay.
RELATED: Nuvei enters $1.7 billion CAD deal to acquire US payments tech firm Paya
In response to news of the potential transaction, Nuvei shares responded on market open Monday by jumping up nearly 20 percent on the TSX, going from $29.48 per share on Friday’s close to $37.57 at 11:30 am EST Monday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that, given Nuvei’s current market value of about $4.1 billion CAD, the potential transaction would be one of the larger recent private-equity deals in a relatively stagnant economic environment.
Having once traded as high as $171 per share in 2021, Nuvei would join a wave of Canadian tech companies going private following significant stock value declines. Last week, Ottawa-based workflow and data collection platform TrueContext and Montréal-based e-commerce solutions company MDF Commerce both entered deals that would see them acquired and delisted from the TSXV and TSX, respectively.
In February, Q4 Inc. was delisted from the TSX after closing a $257-million CAD buyout agreement with Sumeru Equity Partners, while BBTV Holdings and Dialogue Health Technologies went through similar transactions in 2023.
Feature image courtesy Nuvei.
