Paysafe, a London-listed online payment company, agreed to a £2.9bn takeover offer from private equity firm Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, resulting in Paysafe's market price per share soaring.
Paysafe's shareholders have agreed on terms of an acquisition offer for two stock leaders, Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, to acquire the online payment company for 590p per share. Under the agreement, bidders will pay 2.9 billion pounds to buy Paysafe. Paysafe officially announced its shareholders' decision to agree to the terms of the tender on Friday morning.
BILLIONS OF ACQUISITION BIDS IMMEDIATELY RAISED PAYSAF'S PER SHARE PRICE BY ALMOST 34%. Assuming that the two underwriters and company targets shake hands on the deal, Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners will have to pay nearly £2.9 billion over a six-month period to close the deal.
Although no deal has been made at the moment, it seems only a matter of time before the two companies sign the contract. Even Chief Executive Joel Leonov and Chief Financial Officer Brian MacArthur-Merscroft reportedly already agreed to sell the shares. Old Mutual Global Investors (U.K.), Paysafe's largest shareholder, also expressed its intention to agree to the offer. So far, paysafe has rejected many acquisition offers from other companies until it received lucrative offers from Blackstone and CVC in May 2017.
In addition to all the services PaySafe offers, it also plays an important role in the gaming industry because it allows players to make bets online through digital wallets. The potential acquisition of the payment company will thus pave the way for Blackstone and CVC Capital to enter the gambling industry.
It should be noted that more and more companies are targeting digital payment companies. It's not surprising considering that more and more people prefer online payments instead of traditional cash payments. Earlier this year, Nordic Capital sold Bambora (Swedish digital payment company) to Ingenico Group for 1.5 billion euros, more than five times its initial investment.
Bidders must confirm their offer before Aug. 18. The bid is also open to other companies to offer their proposals. But because PaySafe is one of the main digital methods the gambling industry uses to process online remittances, these stock companies have reason to offer such a huge price per share. Given that the transaction continues to grow at a rapid pace, it means that the investment will probably prove worthwhile.