CPI Pays $45 Million for On-Demand Payment Card Firm Arroweye

Payments tech company CPI Card Group has acquired payment card solutions company Arroweye.

The $45.5 million deal, announced Wednesday (May 7), combines Arroweye’s on-demand payment card solutions with CPI’s suite of payment card production, personalization, instant issuance, prepaid and digital tools, letting CPI offer more choices to a wider customer base.

“Adding Arroweye’s digitally-driven on-demand payment card solutions to the CPI portfolio supports our strategic focus of putting our customers first, while aiding long-term growth and diversification,” John Lowe, CPI’s president and chief executive, said in a news release. “This transaction brings us additional capabilities, advanced technology and increased capacity, and complements the existing offerings we currently provide to our extensive customer base.”

Added Dan Oswald, Arroweye’s president and CEO: “We believe CPI is the best home for Arroweye’s solutions, operations and employees. CPI’s strong market position, customer relationships and financial resources will enable Arroweye to expand its offerings to its existing clients while continuing to build on our long-term growth and development.”

According to the release, Arroweye has approximately 200 employees, with its headquarters and production facility in Las Vegas.

The deal comes at a time when mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have sunk to their lowest level in 20 years. As noted here earlier this week, deal-making is now worse than it was during the Great Recession of 2008-09 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around the world, investment bankers and corporations have halted M&A deals in the wake of the Trump administration’s global trade war, which kicked off with the announcement of tariffs last month.

M&A contracts, a key measure of economic health and business optimism, plunged to 2,330 in April, the lowest level since February 2005, per a report by Reuters, citing data from Dealogic.

That’s 34% below their historical monthly average. The United States, the world’s largest deal-making market, saw 555 deals inked last month, its fewest in any month since May 2009.

“Spooked by the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs against nearly all countries, retaliatory measures from other nations and gyrations by global stock markets, companies have pulled the plug on acquisitions and, separately, initial public offerings,” PYMNTS wrote. “Sweden’s buy now, pay later provider Klarna paused its plan to go public on the New York Stock Exchange two days after Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement.”