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Nuvei’s Red-Hot IPO Marks Canada’s Largest Tech Offering

Nuvei’s Red-Hot Debut Marks Largest Tech IPO in Canada’s History

Payments company Nuvei Corp. jumped 31% in its trading debut on Thursday, riding the wave of demand for technology shares that has swept the globe in recent months.

Montreal-based Nuvei, which supplies payment technology to the retail, travel, gaming and other sectors, is among a cluster of firms benefiting from the shift to e-commerce during pandemic lockdowns. The deal raised $700 million, making it the biggest tech offering in the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the exchange said in a statement.

“The rebound in technology names is a good sign for the private tech companies with plans to publicly list their shares in the coming weeks,” CIBC analyst Stephanie Price wrote in a note. With tech IPOs such as Snowflake Inc. surging more than 100%, investor demand remains strong, she added.

Nuvei will take in proceeds $625 million before costs and fees, while $75 million goes to selling shareholders.

Information technology stocks are up 80% from their March 16 low on Canada’s largest exchange, compared to a 57% gain in the S&P 500 information tech index. Nuvei’s listing follows Dye & Durham Ltd.’s July offering, which raised C$172.5 million ($131 million). Another Montreal company in the merchant software business, Lightspeed POS Inc., raised C$276 million in an IPO last year.

Shares of Nuvei were priced at $26 but climbed as high as $35.04. They ended the day at C$45.05 ($34.12).

Backed by Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and private equity firm Novacap Investments Inc., Nuvei has about 50,000 customers and supports transactions in nearly 150 currencies. The company connects business owners and customers “no matter where or how they do business,” Nuvei Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Philip Fayer said in an statement.

Nuvei’s Red-Hot IPO Marks Canada’s Largest Tech Offering

The global mobile commerce and e-commerce market is expected to increase to $6.3 trillion by 2024 from $3.4 trillion in 2019, according to Nuvei’s prospectus, citing eMarketer, a market research company. Nuvei generated revenue of $245.8 million and adjusted Ebitda of $87.2 million for fiscal 2019, according to its prospectus.

Nuvei’s shares are trading on so-called “if-and-when-issued basis” until the offering closes on Sept. 22, according to a separate statement by the company.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.