Supplier News
IOM – Blackstone and CVC bid £2.9bn for Paysafe Group
By Lewis - 21 July 2017
Paysafe Group has revealed it has received a conditional offer from Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners valuing the business at £2.9bn, valuing the company’s shares at 590p.
Paysafe has disclosed that Blackstone and CVC Capital originally made an approach in May and has since continued with a number of indicative proposals since that time. reacting to the news, Paysafe shares jumped 8.5 per cent to a record high of 591p. The stock is up more than 58 per cent in the year to date.
Old Mutual Global Investors, the company’s largest shareholder with about 10 per cent of the firm’s shares, has sent a non-binding letter supporting the offer. The bidders have until August 18 to confirm their bid. Paysafe has grown its revenue by 600 per cent since 2011, a large proportion of which comes from handling gambling transactions for betting companies such as Ladbrokes and William Hill.
Peter Gray, partner and joint head of financial services at Cavendish Corporate Finance, said: “The acquisition will see Paysafe add 60,000 new clients across 50 states. It also reduces the firm’s exposure to the online gambling market from approximately 46 per cent to 35 per cent. The deal comes on a busy day for Paysafe as it is announced a possible $3.7 billion joint bid for the payments processing giant from CVC and Blackstone. The current flurry of M&A activity in this sector looks set to continue, as payments firms become hot property as cash payments are progressively replaced by digital payment methodologies.”
