Private equity owned Nuvei is acquiring Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO) in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $2.75 billion, or $7.40 per share. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2027 and the combination brings together two complementary international payments businesses.
Let us explain.
Montreal based Nuvei enables businesses to accept payments in 190 countries. On the other hand, Payoneer focuses on cross-border payouts, disbursements, multi-currency accounts, and banking services. It primarily serves small and medium-sized businesses, freelancers, and marketplaces by helping them receive funds from around the world, manage treasury and foreign exchange needs. The company has a strong presence in emerging markets and maintains deep integrations with major digital commerce platforms, including Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Airbnb, Fiverr, Upwork, Etsy, and Shopify.
Strategy.
Together, the two companies aim to create a more complete end-to-end financial infrastructure platform. Nuvei’s strength in payment acceptance will combine with Payoneer’s expertise in holding funds in multi-currency accounts, managing treasury and FX, and executing payouts. The combined entity will also support stablecoin transactions, allowing businesses to move seamlessly across the full transaction lifecycle from receiving payments to managing and disbursing funds, while reducing reliance on multiple external providers.
What the companies say.
Nuvei CEO Phil Fayer described the deal as “a defining step in Nuvei’s evolution into a global financial infrastructure leader,” noting that the combination will enable businesses to accept payments, send funds, issue cards, manage treasury and FX needs, and access embedded financial services at scale. Payoneer CEO John Caplan added that the partnership will allow the combined company to “reach more businesses, in more markets, with a more complete platform.”
One plus one equals three.
The transaction is expected to deliver transformative benefits. The combined company will capture more value across each transaction by combining acceptance fees, payout fees, FX spreads, and interest income generated from customer funds held on the platform. At closing, it is projected to generate approximately $3 billion in annual revenue and process more than $500 billion in annual payment volume for over 2.4 million customers across 190+ countries and territories, with same-day and real-time settlement capabilities.
Nuvei is the surviving entity.
Existing Nuvei merchants will gain easier access to global payout and treasury tools, while Payoneer’s seller and freelancer base will benefit from stronger payment acceptance and embedded finance capabilities. Cross-selling opportunities are expected to improve customer retention and increase revenue per customer. This acquisition continues its strategy of building a scaled global payments infrastructure leader through targeted M&A. Nuvei was taken private by Advent International in 2024. Functionally, industrywide, the payment stack is becoming more competitive in all markets. We like bold moves and this could be one such example where the combined company is creating operational synergies in the right place at the right time.
Why did Payoneer sell?
Payoneer’s stock traded at depressed levels in the $4 to $7 range for much of 2025 and early 2026, well below its all-time high of $14.40 shortly after its 2021 SPAC listing. The primary driver of this weakness was disappointing Q4 2025 results in late February 2026, when the company missed revenue estimates and issued softer guidance, triggering an immediate 18–20% single-day drop as investors grew concerned about moderating growth. This was compounded by a decline in interest income from customer balances following Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Furthermore, intense competition in the cross-border and SMB payments space from larger players like Stripe and PayPal made it harder for Payoneer to deliver the high-growth trajectory investors expected. At the same time, the entire sector had been de-rated since the 2022 rate-hike cycle, and Payoneer significantly underperformed the broader market as investors applied lower across the board multiples to most companies showing only mid-teens growth.
