Payment solutions provider mulls acquisition offer

Shares in Paysafe plc were boosted as much as 9 percent Friday on the news that a private equity consortium comprising Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners has made a preliminary all cash offer to acquire the company.

The deal has been brewing since May this year, with Paysafe rejecting previous offers before granting due diligence on the understanding that the latest offer could reach 590 pence a share.

Major Paysafe shareholder Old Mutual Global has indicated it supports the consortium’s bid.

Whilst those negotiations remain in progress, Paysafe continued to move forward with a bid of its own to acquire Delta Card Service, the holding company of US-based payment processor Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions (MCPS).

Paysafe has made an offer of $470 million for the company and expects to close before the end of the third quarter, with loan financing providing most of the funds for the buy.

The acquisition agreement includes a provision for Todd Linden, the chief executive of MCPS, to remain with the company as part of Paysafe’s North America processing operations, while chief financial officer Giovanni Diano will also be retained.

MCPS is a profitable company, recording revenue of $446 million last year, and pre-tax earnings of $18.4 million.