Paysafe to Acquire MCPS, Receives Private Equity Offer

London-based payments technology provider Paysafe has been the poster child for activity in the payment processing space this week, as it looks to expand its services while receiving a possible offer from suitors of its own.

Paysafe, which also operates as a payment facilitator, announced that it has agreed to acquire Houston-based processor Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions (MCPS) for $470 million.

In a separate filing on the same day, Paysafe also confirmed that it had received its own preliminary offer from Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners.

An article in the New York Times acknowledged a flurry of M&A activity among payments companies, calling the private equity firms’ proposal to buy Paysafe, “the latest sign of consolidation in payment processing, where banks in particular have been eager not to be left behind as consumer shopping habits shift away from traditional transactions.”

According to a press release, the MCPS acquisition expands not only Paysafe’s scale, but also its product offering for merchants and ISOs in North America.

“The addition of point-of-sale activities to Paysafe’s Processing division significantly strengthens its ability to provide processing for POS, online and order ahead payments all under a single real-time consolidated analytics platform,” the company said in a press release.

As a payment processor for North American merchants and ISOs, MCPS serves 60,000 merchants across 50 states, processing more than $14 billion in transaction volume annually, Paysafe said.

Last year, Paysafe announced a relationship with IOU Lending to expand the services it provides to small businesses in North America.

The MCPS transaction is expected to close during the third quarter this year. The private equity firms have until August 18 to make a firm offer for Paysafe, according to the filing.