Nuvei signs deal to be taken private by Advent

financialpost.com:

Less than four years after it went public in what was the Toronto Stock Exchange’s largest tech IPO ever, Nuvei Corp. is going private in a deal that values the company at US$6.3 billion.

The buzzy Montreal-based payments technology firm, which scored an investment from Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds last year, announced Monday that it will be taken private by U.S. private equity firm Advent International.

The all-cash transaction values the company’s shares at US$34 and has already got the O.K. from existing Canadian shareholders, Nuvei CEO Philip Fayer, private equity firm Novacap and pension fund CDPQ.

“This transaction marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Nuvei, and we are glad to partner with Advent to continue to deliver for our customers and employees and capitalize on the significant opportunities that this investment provides,” Fayer said in a press release announcing the deal.

Under the deal, Fayer, who founded Nuvei in 2003, will indirectly own or control about 24 per cent of the equity in the new private company, with Novacap holding 18 per cent and CDPQ owning 12 per cent. (Fayer, Novacap and CDPQ collectively represent about 92 per cent of the voting power attached to all the shares.)

Fayer will remain as the company’s chair and chief executive, alongside Nuvei’s current leadership team, which is also sticking around.

The deal comes weeks after Nuvei announced that it had formed a special committee to evaluate expressions of interest from potential buyers, after speculation cropped up in media reports suggesting the business was about to be taken private by Advent.

At the time, Nuvei confirmed it was in talks for a potential transaction involving continued significant ownership by certain