Payments & Fintech Acquisitions in 2024

Danish fintech Ageras has completed its acquisition of French business banking platform Shine from Société Générale after receiving final approval from the French regulator ACPR. The deal gives Ageras a payment institution license and expands its footprint in France, enabling plans to integrate Shine's banking capabilities into Ageras' pan‑European offering.

Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV, Inc. completed a business combination with Coincheck Group N.V., resulting in Coincheck becoming a Nasdaq-listed company under the ticker CNCK (and CNCKW for warrants). The SPAC transaction generated approximately $31.6 million of gross proceeds to the combined company and positions Coincheck to expand its crypto and Web3 offerings internationally while maintaining its leading exchange position in Japan.

UK-based payments company Sokin has acquired Norwegian payments app Settle Group AS for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition gives Sokin a European EMI licence and additional tech capabilities to expand Sokin Pay across Europe following recent growth capital from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.

Mambu, the Amsterdam‑based cloud banking platform, has acquired Paris‑based payments technology provider Numeral. The deal will integrate Numeral’s payments hub and gateway into Mambu’s core banking offering to expand payment capabilities, accelerate product development and support Mambu’s market expansion across banks, fintechs and other enterprise customers.

IXOPAY, a K1 Investment Management portfolio company and payments orchestration platform, has merged with Aperia Compliance, a PCI DSS validation and risk management business formerly part of Aperia Solutions. The combined business—operating as Aperia Compliance, an IXOPAY company—bundles IXOPAY's enterprise tokenization and orchestration capabilities with Aperia Compliance's PCI Level 3/4 services to expand compliance, security and payment capabilities for merchants, ISOs, processors and banks worldwide.

Evolv, a payment acceptance solutions provider headquartered in Newburgh, Indiana, has acquired Virginia-based EnzoPay and will rebrand the business as Evolv Mid-Atlantic. The deal strengthens Evolv's distribution network and expands its presence and capabilities across the Mid-Atlantic (Virginia, DC, Maryland, New Jersey).

Deel has acquired U.K.-based international funds transfer company Atlantic Money for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will strengthen Deel's payments infrastructure and fintech capabilities in Europe, enabling enhanced international payouts for its global payroll customers.

Request Finance has acquired Pay.so Lithuania, a regulated VASP, to integrate a compliant one‑click crypto-to-fiat on/off ramp into its finance platform. The deal enables Request Finance to offer multi‑payee fiat payouts and streamlined crypto/fiat payments for businesses globally while strengthening regulatory compliance capabilities.

Brazilian fintech Celcoin has acquired CobranSaaS in a 100% cash transaction to strengthen its credit infrastructure capabilities. CobranSaaS provides loan and debt-collection management software (processing ~6M payments/month) and will be integrated into Celcoin's B2B financial infrastructure offerings following Celcoin's $120M Series C in June 2024.

Evolv, a Newburgh, Indiana-based payment acceptance solutions provider, has acquired Nashville-based Future Payments and rebranded the business as Evolv Nashville. The deal expands Evolv’s distribution capabilities and leadership, integrating Future Payments’ agent network and partnerships to accelerate growth in the payments market.

Celero Commerce has acquired Precision Payments, an electronic payments technology provider headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. The deal expands Celero's merchant payments capabilities and sales footprint in multi-lane retail and is expected to push Celero's annual card processing volume across North America above $28 billion.

oneZero Financial Systems, a Somerville-based provider of multi-asset trading technology, received a minority growth investment from Golden Gate Capital with existing investor Lovell Minnick Partners remaining in place. The capital will support oneZero's product roadmap, team expansion and M&A-driven growth while founders Andrew Ralich and Jesse Johnson remain largest individual shareholders and continue in executive roles.

CardFlight, a New York–based SaaS payments technology provider, received a minority growth investment from Boston-based growth equity firm WestView Capital Partners to accelerate product development, enhance its SwipeSimple platform, and expand its merchant footprint across the United States. Kevin Twomey of WestView will join CardFlight’s board; financial terms were not disclosed.

Stripe has acquired stablecoin payments platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking the largest acquisition in both Stripe's history and the crypto industry. Bridge provides APIs and software that enable businesses to accept stablecoin payments; the deal accelerates Stripe's push into crypto-backed payment rails and stablecoin support.

Aleph has acquired a controlling equity interest (majority stake) in Localpayment, a fast-growing Latin American payment service provider, rebranding it as Localpayment by Aleph. The deal lets Aleph integrate local payment processing (640+ methods across 17 LATAM countries) with its digital advertising capabilities to expand its payments offering and accelerate growth in emerging markets.

Stax Payments has acquired BlockChyp to add the company's payments gateway, APIs, and onboarding capabilities to Stax's payment technology stack. The deal expands Stax's end-to-end processing capabilities and brings BlockChyp's founders and team into Stax's leadership to accelerate product innovation for ISV and merchant customers.

Ridgeview Partners, in partnership with The Baupost Group, has made a strategic growth investment in PayRange, a provider of IoT software and payment solutions for unattended retail. Founder and CEO Paresh Patel will remain in leadership with a significant ownership stake; debt financing was provided by Bain Capital's Private Credit Group to support the transaction.

Arcapita and Dgpays (in equal partnership) have agreed to acquire a majority stake in NEOPAY, the UAE-based payment solutions provider, from Mashreq, which will retain a significant minority interest. The deal implies an approximate enterprise value of $385 million and is subject to regulatory approvals; the consortium will support NEOPAY's regional expansion and technology integration.

Resolute Holdings I, LP (and affiliated vehicles) completed the acquisition of a majority interest (approximately 60% of outstanding shares) in CompoSecure, Inc. on September 17, 2024, in a transaction valued at about $372 million. Resolute has appointed David Cote as executive chairman and added several directors to CompoSecure's board; the investment is intended to drive organic growth, operational improvements and diversification of the company’s customer base through M&A.

Phoenix-based MyCarrier has acquired Curant, a Los Angeles-based digital payments platform serving 3PLs and freight forwarders. The deal brings Curant's payments capability and founder Joe Magee into MyCarrier to integrate automated freight payments into MyCarrier's transportation management platform, accelerating its payments and billing functionality for shippers and carriers.

TPG's The Rise Fund is leading a Series C growth equity investment in BillEase, the Philippines-based consumer finance and BNPL platform, with existing investor Burda Principal Investments participating. The funding — advised exclusively by CICC — will support BillEase's product expansion and scaling to serve more underserved and underbanked Filipino consumers and merchant partners.

BharCap Partners has made a strategic majority investment in Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS), a Cleveland-based merchant solutions and payments provider. Bain Capital Credit and Group 1001 provided senior debt financing and acted as equity co-investors to support the transaction; terms were not disclosed.

HPS/PayMedix has acquired TempoPay, a Redesign Health–created healthcare financing solution, to expand its end-to-end healthcare payments and financing offering. The deal combines TempoPay's interest-free, payroll-repayable card for employees with PayMedix's uncapped in-network financing and SuperEOB billing, aiming to increase access to affordable care and simplify payments for employers, providers and patients.

Tarabut, the MENA open-banking platform, has acquired London-based Vyne, a real-time account-to-account (A2A) payments provider. The deal, which closed August 1 and was approved by SAMA and the FCA, brings Vyne's A2A payment technology and merchant portfolio to Tarabut to accelerate A2A rollout across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE as new regional open-banking/payment initiation rules come into effect.

SEB Group’s subsidiary SEB Kort Bank AB completed the acquisition of AirPlus International GmbH, effective 1 August 2024, following receipt of regulatory approvals. The agreed cash purchase price is approximately EUR 450 million; SEB said the deal will initially reduce its CET1 ratio by ~45–50 basis points and is expected to be EPS accretive in year one (ex. implementation costs).

Stripe has acquired Lemon Squeezy, a four-year-old payments and merchant-of-record platform that serves SaaS and digital-product businesses. Terms were not disclosed; Lemon Squeezy — a ~13-person startup that surpassed $1M ARR within nine months of launch — will help Stripe scale merchant-of-record selling and related billing/tax capabilities.

Fortis has acquired MerchantE's NetSuite payments division, adding legacy NetSuite-integrated payment capabilities to its embedded payments platform. The deal strengthens Fortis' leadership in embedded ERP payments and continues MerchantE's two-decade legacy supporting the NetSuite ecosystem.

Investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital have acquired a minority stake in UK-headquartered payments fintech Sokin, with additional participation from Gary Marino, Mark Britto, and Aurum Partners. The growth equity investment is intended to accelerate Sokin's product roadmap and support further global expansion while the company continues to operate independently under CEO Vroon Modgill.

Genstar Capital has agreed to make a significant investment in AffiniPay, a provider of practice management software and embedded payments for legal, accounting, and professional services firms. TA Associates will remain a meaningful investor while funds advised by Apax will fully exit; the capital will be used to extend AffiniPay's product suite and accelerate growth across new products and verticals.

Payroc WorldAccess LLC has acquired i3 Verticals' merchant services business and related payments software and technology in an all-cash transaction valued at $440 million (subject to purchase price adjustments). The acquisition—completed following regulatory approvals—boosts Payroc's processing scale and distribution capabilities while integrating i3's payments technology and merchant relationships into Payroc's platform.

JG Wentworth has acquired Ottopay, a digital consumer debt management and payments platform developed by Otto. The deal brings Ottopay's end-to-end debt management technology and product leadership (founder Max Klein joined JG Wentworth) into JG Wentworth's suite of consumer financial services to expand digital capabilities for its nationwide client base.

Corpay, Inc. (NYSE: CPAY) has completed the acquisition of GPS Capital Markets, LLC, a business-to-business cross-border payments and treasury management provider. The deal expands Corpay's cross-border capabilities, adds FX netting technology and specialist teams, and will increase the company's corporate payments revenue and customer reach while Corpay also completed the divestiture of Comdata Merchant POS Solutions to PDI Technologies.

Shift4 has acquired a majority stake in German POS supplier Vectron Systems AG, giving it access to ~65,000 POS locations across Europe and a network of ~300 POS resellers. The company also completed its previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems, adding ~18,000 merchant locations and expanding Shift4's integrated payments and POS footprint globally.

Stake, the loyalty company for the rental economy, acquired rent payments platform Circa for $9.5 million in cash and stock. The deal integrates Circa’s payments technology and collections capabilities (branded Get Current) into Stake’s renter banking, loyalty, and incentive platform to deliver no-fee rent payments with instant Cash Back and industry-first delinquency management.

CSG (NASDAQ: CSGS) has acquired iCheckGateway.com, LLC (iCG Pay), a Fort Myers-based ACH and credit card payment processor, for an upfront purchase price of $17 million plus potential earn-outs. The deal adds recurring payments revenue (iCG Pay reported ~$9.5M in 2023 net revenue), ISV channel partnerships, and payments capabilities to CSG’s customer engagement and billing platform to accelerate its North American payments expansion and improve 2024 profitability.

JP 3E Holdings, Inc. (formerly Spooz, Inc.) has signed an agreement to acquire a majority ownership interest in Bloxcross, Inc., a blockchain-based digital assets and cross-border payments platform. The investment is intended to accelerate Bloxcross's global expansion and establish JP 3E's trade financing capability across end markets including energy, food (eatables) and education.

Evertec has acquired Zunify, the largest QR-code payment network operating in Costa Rica, taking over its client portfolio, financial permits, and technology licenses. The deal strengthens Evertec’s payments footprint in Costa Rica and Central America, bringing Zunify’s network (over 1,300 stores) and capabilities into Evertec’s regional platform.

Neon Bloom, Inc. (OTC PINK: NBCO) has agreed to acquire Advanced Executive Sales, LLC (AES), a payments and card-processing provider that services over 100 e-commerce sites. Under the deal Neon Bloom will acquire all AES membership interests, appoint AES Managing Member Greg Bauer to its board and convert AES to a Florida C‑Corp; AES reported roughly $23.2 million in gross revenue for 2023.

FIS has completed the acquisition of Dragonfly Financial Technologies, a digital business banking and cash management solutions provider, from One Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed; Dragonfly — carved out from ACI Worldwide by OEP in 2022 — serves over 1.4 million businesses and a number of tier-one banks across the U.S. and Asia Pacific.

Corpay (NYSE: CPAY) has agreed to acquire Paymerang, a Richmond, Virginia-based provider of accounts payable automation and payment solutions, from Aldrich Capital Partners. The acquisition expands Corpay's B2B payments and AP automation capabilities across education, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing end markets; the deal is expected to close in Q2 2024 subject to regulatory approvals.

Paystand has acquired Teampay to combine blockchain-enabled B2B payments with Teampay's spend and expense management platform, creating a no-fee, end-to-end payments and spend management suite for CFOs. The combined network will serve more than 1 million businesses and expand Paystand's AR capabilities into AP and corporate expense controls; financial terms were not disclosed.

Thunes, a Singapore-headquartered global cross-border payments company, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tilia LLC, an all-in-one payments platform licensed across 48 U.S. states. The acquisition aims to accelerate Thunes' growth in the United States and expand its capabilities and customer offerings in the online gaming, virtual worlds and creator-economy markets; Tilia will remain based in San Francisco and enter an exclusive five-year partnership with Linden Lab post-closing.

Clearstream, the post-trade division of Deutsche Börse Group, will acquire a minority stake in Digital Vault Services (DVS), a Munich-based fintech specialising in digital bank guarantees and sureties. The strategic investment — subject to regulatory approvals and legal finalisation in H2 2024 — aims to integrate DVS's Guarantee Vault with Clearstream's D7 platform to expand Clearstream's digital post-trade product portfolio and streamline trade finance processes.

TokenEx, a cloud tokenization provider based in Tulsa, and IXOPAY, a Vienna-based payments orchestration platform, have entered a definitive agreement to merge and form a combined company called IXOPAY, a TokenEx Company. The deal brings together tokenization and payments orchestration capabilities to offer merchants omnichannel tokenization, intelligent routing, and card lifecycle management while expanding IXOPAY's reach into the U.S. market. Marc Olesen will lead the combined organization as CEO, with Rene and Nathalie Siegl remaining in executive roles.

Ziff Davis, Inc. acquired TDS Gift Cards, a global provider of gift card products, services and processing technology, from The Tornante Company and funds affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners. The acquisition (reported at approximately $48 million) expands Ziff Davis's shopping and payments capabilities, broadens its product lineup and extends its global customer reach; terms were not material to Ziff Davis's financials.

Advent International agreed to acquire Nuvei for US$34.00 per share in an all-cash transaction that values the Canadian payments company at approximately US$6.3 billion. Existing major shareholders — Philip Fayer, Novacap and CDPQ — will roll a significant portion of their equity and remain as investors, with Philip Fayer continuing as Nuvei's Chair and CEO; the deal is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Quisitive Technology Solutions has entered into an agreement to sell its BankCard USA Merchant Services business to BUSA Acquisition Co., a Nevada entity backed by a consortium of BankCard employees and third‑party investors, for US$40.0 million plus other consideration and settlement of prior earnout obligations. The transaction is a divestiture intended to simplify Quisitive into a pure‑play Microsoft Cloud and AI provider, reduce debt and improve its pro forma adjusted EBITDA; the acquiror secured senior secured financing from WhiteHorse Capital to fund the deal.

Marlin Equity Partners signed a definitive agreement to complete a majority growth investment in Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS), a cloud-native B2B payments, cash and treasury management software provider. TIS co-founder Joerg Wiemer, Aquiline Capital Partners and management shareholders will retain minority stakes; the deal remains subject to regulatory clearances and customary closing conditions.

A consortium of institutional investors led by Sixth Street — including KKR, Bayview Asset Management and CardWorks, with support from PIMCO and strategic financing from CPP Investments — acquired GreenSky and associated loan assets from Goldman Sachs. The transaction, which deepens GreenSky's partnership with Synovus Bank, closed in March 2024 and transfers control of the point-of-sale home improvement lending platform to the investor group.

Nordic Capital has joined Great Hill Partners as a strategic investor in One Inc, a U.S.-based digital payments platform focused on modernizing insurance payments. The growth equity investment (with significant continuing investment from One Inc's management) will fund product innovation and further scale the Company's payments network and customer expansion.