Nuvei, the Canadian payments company taken private in a $6.3B deal just two years ago, is reportedly closing in on its biggest acquisition yet. The target: Payoneer Global, the NASDAQ-listed cross-border payments platform that serves freelancers, marketplaces, and e-commerce sellers worldwide.
The deal is valued at approximately $2.7B, implying an enterprise value of around $2.3B for Payoneer. Wall Street’s reaction was swift. Payoneer’s stock surged as much as 27% intraday following the news, its largest single-day gain in four years.
What the deal looks like
The two companies occupy complementary but distinct corners of the payments universe. Nuvei focuses on payment acceptance, the infrastructure that lets merchants take money from customers across borders and currencies. Payoneer sits on the other side of the equation, specializing in payouts to freelancers, contractors, and sellers on platforms like Amazon and eBay.
Before the acquisition rumors surfaced, Payoneer’s market capitalization hovered around $1.75B. A $2.7B price tag represents a meaningful premium, which explains why shareholders were, to put it mildly, enthusiastic about the news.
