Less than four years after its arrival on the stock market, the Montreal financial technology company Nuvei, specializing in electronic payments, will withdraw from the stock markets following a transaction concocted with the investment firm Advent International, managed from Boston.
The transaction announced Monday by Nuvei provides that its shareholders will receive US$34 per share in cash, which corresponds to a valuation of US6.3 billion, or approximately CAN8.55 billion. This share buyback agreement with Advent International also involves Nuvei’s current major shareholders, including its president and CEO, Philip Fayer.
At the end of this transaction, Mr. Fayer will indirectly hold or control approximately 24% of the private share capital of Nuvei, while the Quebec investment firm Novacap will hold 18% and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) will be found at 12%.
According to Nuvei, Advent International is a long-time investor in the electronic payments sector, which will allow it to “benefit from the significant resources, operational and sector expertise and investment capacity offered by Advent”. .
With US$91 billion in assets under management, Advent describes itself as “one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors” with a staff of 295 professionals spread across 15 offices in 12 countries in the Americas and Europe.
For its part, the fintech Montreal-based Nuvei describes itself as “one of the most advanced technology providers in the global payments industry”. In its most recent annual report, in 2023, Nuvei indicated that the total volume of transactions carried out with its electronic payment technologies passed the threshold of 200 billion US dollars. With such a volume of transactions, Nuvei’s revenues from these ongoing activities reached US$1.2 billion.
Following the transaction, Philip Fayer will continue to lead Nuvei as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, alongside members of his senior management team. It is also stated that Nuvei’s head office will remain in Montreal.
In Mr. Fayer’s opinion, “this transaction marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Nuvei.”
Our strategic initiatives have always been focused on accelerating revenue for our customers, driving innovation in our technology and developing our people. Bringing in a partner with such extensive experience in the payments industry will continue to drive our expansion.
Philip Fayer, in the press release announcing the transaction
First reported by the Wall Street Journalin mid-March – The Press had also echoed1 –, the plan to privatize the share capital of Nuvei was then approved by the company in the form of a “strategic review” of proposals received, but without specifying their number or origin.
Nonetheless, this confirmation of a “strategic review”, even if very partial, caused the value of Nuvei’s shares on the American NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange to jump by a little more than 30%.
At investment firm Advent International, Managing Director Bo Huang mentions that “Nuvei has created a distinctive global payments platform with an innovative product offering, which serves attractive payment end markets such as e-commerce. global, business-to-business payments and integrated payments.
The general director of Advent says he is convinced that “ [Advent pourra] “support Nuvei’s growth as a global player in the sector from Canada, to take advantage of the opportunities that arise and thus help shape the future of the payments industry.”
We will remember that the Montreal company obtained an investment from Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds last year which caused a lot of noise at the time.
The two other major shareholders in Nuvei, Caisse de dépôt and Novacap, say they are confident in the new growth prospects of the Montreal company in the international payment technology market.
David Lewin, senior management partner at Novacap, said that “as an existing and long-standing shareholder, we continue to support management’s proven commitment [de Nuvei] in favor of innovation, efficiency and adaptation to the market. We are confident that with our continued support, management will skillfully adapt to the changing environment, drive expansion and deliver on our shared commitment to long-term growth for Nuvei employees and customers.”
At the Caisse de dépôt et placement, which has been invested in Nuvei since 2017, the first vice-president and head of investments in Quebec, Kim Thomassin, indicates that after “having supported this Quebec leader in fintech at each stage of its growth, particularly in the context of acquisitions on a global scale”, the Caisse de dépôt intends “to support Nuvei once again as it undertakes this new chapter in its history, alongside recognized partners such as Advent and existing shareholders Philip Fayer and Novacap”.
According to the information communicated by Nuvei, all members of its board of directors, its main shareholders as well as all members of the company’s senior management, which in total represent 92% of the voting rights to its share capital, decided to support the transaction concocted with Advent International.
With The Canadian Press
1. Consult the article from March 17 of The Press evoking different scenarios.