US-based Nuvei is set to acquire payments technology company SafeCharge International Group for about $889m (£699m) in an all-cash deal.
UK-based payments tech company SafeCharge to be acquired by Nuvei. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel/Pixabay.
The acquisition of the UK-based SafeCharge is planned to be carried out by Nuvei Bidco, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of the US payments technology firm.
The proposed transaction is expected to create a major payments technology solution provider with significant scale and global presence.
As per the terms of the deal agreed by the two firms, SafeCharge’s shareholders will be paid $5.55 (£4.36) per share by Nuvei.
Nuvei is a full-service merchant acquirer and payment processor, catering to merchants and technology and distribution partners, mainly in the US and Canada.
Currently, the company processes nearly $16bn of sales annually, from 52,000 merchants and 1,500 distribution partners. The company reported $150m revenue in the financial year ended 31 December 2018.
Founded in 2006, SafeCharge is engaged in providing omnichannel payment services, solutions for fraud prevention and also connection to payment methods.
SafeCharge is expected to benefit from a diversified and stable customer base post acquisition and will continue expanding its product offering to online retail, online travel agents, digital goods and other industries.
Nuvei chairman and CEO Philip Fayer said: “Our businesses are highly complementary from multiple perspectives including geography, technology, key verticals and customers.
“We think the technology platform SafeCharge has developed is exceptional and will serve as the go-forward foundation from which we will continue to grow the combined business and provide best-in-class products and services to our customers and partners.”
For the UK-based payments technology company, the acquisition is said to offer an opportunity for its shareholders to get the certainty of a cash payment for their holdings.
SafeCharge CEO David Avgi said: “The Acquisition should enable SafeCharge to benefit from Nuvei’s North American footprint and sales and marketing capability to fulfil and accelerate its growth ambitions.
“The board believes that our businesses have similar shared entrepreneurial cultures and is confident that Nuvei’s plans to invest in and grow the SafeCharge business mean the proposed transaction is positive for SafeCharge and its stakeholders as a whole.”