Report: Bank of Montreal Leads $2.55 Billion Loan in Nuvei Deal

Bank of Montreal is reportedly leading a group of underwriters launching a $2.55 billion loan to back the previously announced acquisition of Canadian payments processor Nuvei.

The loan will have a seven-year term and will help fund the $6.3 billion leveraged buyout led by Advent International, management, Novacap and CDPQ, Bloomberg reported Monday (July 8), citing unnamed sources.

The proposed loan would be the biggest such deal since April, when a $2.6 billion loan was sold to fund KKR’s purchase of a Broadcom unit, according to the report.

Nuvei announced the deal on April 1, saying that Nuvei CEO Philip Fayer will control nearly a quarter of the equity in the newly private company and is expected to remain as head of the firm.

“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.

Going private affords firms the strategy of pursuing market opportunities without being marked to market on public exchanges each day, PYMNTS reported on April 2.

Nuvei shareholders approved the deal at a meeting held on June 18.

The company had advised them to do so, saying in a proxy filing that the agreement is “in the best interests of the company … and represents an increase of approximately 42% from the consideration initially proposed by Advent.”

It was reported in May that the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape was in bloom after a drought.

During the first quarter, major M&A deals — agreements worth at least $10 billion — more than doubled, according to the Financial Times.

Eleven of those deals, valued at a total of $215 billion, were forged during the first three months of 2024, compared to five takeovers — valued at $100 billion — in the same quarter a year earlier.

In the payments arena, expanded product suites, B2B and cross-border functionality seem to be key considerations in recent deal-making.