Canada’s Neuvei, Novacap, Finalize $889M Deal For Payment Firm SafeCharge

Payment technology firm Nuvei, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Novacap, acquired omnichannel payments firm SafeCharge International Group for $889 million, Novacap said in a press release on Wednesday (Aug. 14).

Nuvei, a Montreal-based payment technology company, is part of Novacap’s portfolio of companies. SafeCharge’s proprietary payment platform connects 150-plus local payment methods and seamlessly links to major players like Visa and Mastercard.

The strategic acquisition is beneficial for both companies. “By marrying SafeCharge’s market-leading technology and Nuvei’s established distribution channels in the U.S. and Canada, Nuvei will now be able to deliver fully-supported payment solutions to its clients and distribution networks, regardless of size, vertical or geography,” said David Lewin, partner at Novacap.

The merger creates a global payment solutions provider that can handle any sized clients around the world. Montreal, Quebec, will become the worldwide headquarters for the combined organization, the release said.

“SafeCharge is the largest acquisition in Novacap’s 38-year history making Nuvei another Novacap platform that is a leader in its industry with headquarters in Montreal,” said Novacap President and Managing Partner Pascal Tremblay.

SafeCharge was on the verge of being privatized from the AIM stock exchange in London at a valuation of US $889 million. Nuvei’s acquisition of SafeCharge was done with support from Novacap and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the release stated.

“Without Novacap and CDPQ, Nuvei would not have been able to complete this acquisition. I am very proud to have them as my partners,” said Nuvei Chairman and CEO Philip Fayer.

Canada is embracing the payments modernization journey, adopting faster, more agile payment functionality in the country. Some of the biggest industry trends, including faster payments, open banking and bank-FinTech collaboration, have found their way into the Canadian market. As Canada continues on its path toward near real-time payments by 2020, the country is looking at other markets’ experiences — which increasingly include applications for corporate transactions.

While faster payment capabilities are beginning to gain traction in corporate payment use-cases like payroll, gig worker compensation and intercompany payments, what faster payment technologies offer in accounts payable, some analysts say, has less to do with speed than it does with data.