Paya Debuts On Nasdaq, Shares Close Up 10 Pct

Paya, the latest FinTech to the join the ranks of publicly traded companies, made its market debut Monday (Oct. 19).

Shares of the Atlanta-based payment processor rose as much as 10.6 percent to $13 on the Nasdaq Stock Market before closing at $12.15, up 3.4 percent on the session.

The launch follows the vote Friday by shareholders of a special purpose acquisition company, FinTech Acquisition Corp. III, to approve a business combination with Paya and to change its name to Paya Holdings, according to a press release.

Private equity firm GTCR orchestrated the transaction, having bought Paya in 2017 from Sage PLC, a global accounting software firm.

The new firm is trading on Nasdaq under the stock symbol PAYA, with GTCR remaining as the largest shareholder.

Paya will also remain under its current management team, led by CEO Jeff Hack.

Hack said the now publicly-traded Paya will continue to push forward in the field of accounts receivable automation. Noting the sector is still in its early stages in the B2B sector, Hack said in the press release that Paya’s “differentiated platform” Paya Connect combines “Card, ACH and Check acceptance.”

That combination of options, in turn, is crucial in order to support the “accelerated adoption of integrated payments in this segment,” he said.

Hack noted Paya is also seeing similarly strong growth rates in its “municipal, utility, healthcare, not-for-profit, and education segments as well.”

“Our completion of the transaction and listing on the Nasdaq stock market is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated and talented Paya colleagues, as well as our strong software partner and customer relationships,” Hack said. “We would especially like to thank GTCR for their contributions to our success.”

With additional capital to draw upon, Paya said it will also be able to “accelerate” its hunt for additional companies and services to buy.

Last year, Paya acquired First Billing Services, which provides municipal and utility payments, and Stewardship, which serves faith-based not-for-profits, the company noted.