Paysafe makes second LatAm acquisition with $441m SafetyPay deal
London-based payments company Paysafe has agreed to acquire SafetyPay in a $441 million deal, its second acquisition in the space of a month.
Paysafe is looking at a major Latin American expansion
Paysafe says the acquisition will boost its presence in Latin America, SafetyPay’s majority market. It builds on the firm’s recent deal with Peruvian platform PagoEfectivo.
The firm says its double acquisition sets it apart as “the leading open banking and e-cash solutions provider in Latin America”.
SafetyPay was founded in 2007 as an e-commerce platform focused on allowing customers to use alternative methods of payment.
The firm has a presence in 11 Latin American countries via a network of banks, cash collection points, and merchants. It claims 90% bank coverage in the region.
Once the deal closes, the SafetyPay team will move into Paysafe’s e-cash and online banking solutions division.
That division is led by Paysafe’s e-cash CEO Udo Mueller. Ruiz Moya, SafetyPay CEO, will remain with the firm and report to Mueller as CEO for e-cash in Latin America and head of open banking.
Philip McHugh, CEO of Paysafe, says the new acquisition has successfully built “a market-leading payment platform” that has become “the de facto open banking solution for Latin America”.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021, subject to regulatory requirements.
Paysafe’s banks have provided financing commitments and the firm intends to refinance these bridge facilities with new debt.
April 2021 saw Paysafe go public on US markets through its merger with a blank-cheque special purpose acquisition company (Spac).
Foley Trasimene Acquisition II Corp, owned by billionaire business and sports executive Bill Foley, brought the payments firm public.
