Israeli fintech Pioneer sold to Canada’s Nuvei for $2.75 billion in cash

Israeli fintech company Pioneer is being acquired by Canadian payments firm Nuvei for $2.75 billion in cash. The deal was announced Monday, and once completed Pioneer’s shares will be delisted from Nasdaq. Shareholders will receive $7.40 per share.

Pioneer was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal and became one of Israel’s best-known tech companies. Its platform helps businesses, freelancers, and online sellers receive and send cross-border payments more cheaply and easily than through traditional banking systems. Its customers include companies operating on major platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, and millions of users worldwide rely on its services for international transactions.

Nuvei is already familiar with the Israeli market, having previously bought the Israeli payments companies Simplex and SafeCharge. By adding Pioneer, the Canadian company aims to build a global payments giant. The combined group is expected to process hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions each year, with annual revenue of about $3 billion and transaction volume of roughly half a trillion dollars.

The sale comes just five years after Pioneer’s 2021 Wall Street debut, when it was valued at about $3.3 billion. The current price reflects a valuation about 17% lower than at the IPO, underscoring the challenges Pioneer has faced in recent years. Over the past year, the company cut costs and laid off employees in Israel and abroad. Revenue continued to rise, but profits fell sharply amid a slowing market and higher operating expenses.