Nuvei, a Montreal-based payment technology firm, has agreed to acquire Paya Holdings, a move designed to boost Nuvei's presence in several private and government markets.
Nuvei's $1.3 billion agreement is with GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm that
Paya presently supports business-to-business payments, government clients, utilities, nonprofits and health care clients. It processes about $45 billion in payments yearly, for 100,000 clients and 2,000 software vendors, making it one of the 10 largest card-not-present processors in the U.S.
Paya also added services designed for enterprise resource companies and payment facilitators, or firms that provide a variety of payment options through a single client relationship. Paya's model is also designed to aid clients' migration to faster payment processing, mobile commerce and other innovations, a business case that has expanded over the past three years as the pandemic pushed more business online.
The acquisition would allow Nuvei to expand in those lines of business, as well as gain new clients in the U.S. The firms did not provide a closing date for the acquisition.
"Nuvei's acquisition of Paya marks a significant milestone in the transformation of this business," Aaron Cohen, managing director and head of financial services and technology at GTCR, said in a press release Monday. "Since the initial corporate carve out 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."
JPMorgan Securities and Raymond James & Associates are serving as financial advisors to Paya and Kirkland & Ellis is Paya's legal advisor. Simon Thatcher & Bartlett is legal counsel for GTCR. GTCR currently manages about $26 billion in equity capital.
