Bidco Agrees To Acquire Paysafe In All-Cash Deal

Pi UK Bidco Limited — a newly incorporated company jointly-owned and managed by American multinational private equity firm Blackstone and private investing consulting firm CVC — announced it has reached an all-cash agreement to acquire online payments company Paysafe.

According to a news release, each Paysafe shareholder will be entitled to receive 590 pence in cash per Paysafe share under the terms of the acquisition. The buyout value of the combined issued and to-be-issued ordinary share capital is approximately £2.96 billion.

Paysafe is regulated in the United Kingdom, and the deal is expected to be completed in Q4 of 2017.

“Paysafe has been on a remarkable journey, undergoing significant transformation and generating substantial shareholder value,” said Dennis Jones, chairman of Paysafe, in the news release. “The offer from the [Blackstone and CVC] Consortium represents an opportunity for shareholders to crystallize a certain cash value from their investment in Paysafe. The Paysafe Independent Directors believe that Paysafe will continue to play a key role in payments innovation, leveraging the state-of-the-art technology it has built over a number of years.”

Bidco is a newly incorporated company, formed on behalf of Blackstone Funds and CVC Funds for the purpose of completing the Paysafe acquisition.

Founded in 1985 and publicly listed since 2007, Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms with Blackstone Fund assets totaling more than $371 billion. CVC, founded in 1981, is a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm. The CVC Funds possess a diverse portfolio of investments in more than 50 companies worldwide. Together, the companies have combined annual sales of approximately $55 billion.

“Paysafe is an important and innovative online payments partner for merchants and customers across the globe,” said Peter Rutland, partner and global co-head of financial services at CVC. “Our investment experience in financial services, and particularly the payments sector, provides us with the ability to understand and value the company and its future growth. We are very grateful to have the opportunity to invest in Paysafe and look forward to helping support its growth going forwards.”