Deal represents firm’s successful execution of The Leaders Strategy™ within the payments industry.
GTCR, a leading private equity firm, announced today the completion of the transaction involving portfolio company Paya, a leading integrated payments and commerce solution provider, which will result in Paya’s listing as a publicly-traded company. On October 15, 2020, shareholders of FinTech Acquisition Corp III (“FinTech III”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”), approved the business combination with Paya. As a result, the combined company changed its name to Paya Holdings Inc. (“Paya” or the “Company”) and will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market with the ticker symbol “PAYA” beginning October 19, 2020. GTCR will remain as Paya’s largest shareholder.
GTCR acquired Paya in 2017 from global accountancy software provider Sage PLC. Prior to GTCR’s purchase, the business operated as Sage Payment Solutions. In executing its Leaders StrategyTM, GTCR partnered with Jeff Hack in 2018 to transform the company within the rapidly evolving integrated payments space. Together, GTCR and Mr. Hack introduced a new senior management team, completed a carveout from Sage, invested in new technology and product capabilities, accelerated organic growth, and executed three highly strategic acquisitions. Paya operates today as a leading pure-play integrated payments platform in attractive end markets such as B2B, healthcare, government, utilities, non-profit and faith-based.
CEO Jeff Hack, along with his management team, will continue to execute the Company’s growth strategy going forward.
“We’d like to thank Jeff Hack and the rest of the Paya management team for their strong partnership and tireless efforts which have led to this important milestone,” said Collin Roche, GTCR Managing Director. “As the largest shareholder, we look forward to continuing to support the Company’s growth and success as a unique integrated payments platform in the public market.”
Read More : Can Cyber Security Provide a Competitive Advantage to Businesses?
“The Paya transformation during the last three years has been remarkable,” said Aaron Cohen, GTCR Managing Director. “Paya’s evolution from a corporate subsidiary to a publicly traded company is a great illustration of the GTCR Leaders StrategyTM at work.”
“We’d like to thank GTCR for their contribution to Paya’s strategy and success,” said Jeff Hack, Paya CEO. “The firm has been an exceptional partner, and we are excited for their continued support of our growth strategy while operating in the public market. I’d also like to express my appreciation to the public market investors who have invested in support of the next chapter in Paya’s evolution.”
Evercore acted as capital markets and financial advisor to Paya. William Blair acted as financial advisor to Paya. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Paya. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Northland Capital Markets acted as capital markets advisors to FinTech III. Morgan Stanley acted as M&A advisor to FinTech III. Ledgewood PC acted as legal counsel to FinTech III. Morgan Stanley, Evercore and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. acted as private placement agents.
Read More : Realizing Enterprise threat visibility versus real-time operational issues
