Paysafe Group Goes Public

Paysafe is going public for the second time since 2017 since Blackstone and CVC privatized the company for $3.9 billion. It is set to be open to all after completing its $9 billion merger with Bill Foley’s company, Foley Trasimene Acquisition II. Paysafe is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange from March 31. Foley, Paysafe’s non-executive chairman said in a statement, “Paysafe has the right assets, team, and strategy in place to capitalize on a tremendous opportunity for long-term value creation in the payments industry, especially in iGaming which is really beginning to open up across the United States”. He also added that Paysafe was omnipresent in terms of digital wallets and e-cash solutions; Paysafe is seeking to dominate the gaming world domestically and internationally.About PaysafePaysafe Group Limited, formerly known as Optimal Payments PLC is an online, multinational payments company that accepts cryptocurrency and allows consumers to pay online without using a bank account or credit details and identity proofs. It uses the latest technologies: a 16-digit code instead of your personal information and is probably the safest method of making prepaid online payments. Paysafe uses Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard others to secure transactions; Neteller allows you to withdraw and transfer money from merchants and other people with prepaid card payment being available in eight currencies. It can be used just like MasterCard. Skrill makes low-cost international transactions possible and money transfers to be available on the Internet. Paysafecard allows you to pay online without revealing personal details. It is also associated with Fans Entertainment and IncomeAccess. Paysafe is based in the Isle of Man and regulated in the United Kingdom, authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by a consortium of The Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners in December 2017. PaySafe Partners with iGamingAs a public company, Paysafe sees an opportunity in iGaming, as said by CEO Philip McHugh. 75% of online iGaming operators, including CasinoDeps, depend on Paysafe for payments. According to a document, merchants of eCommerce and brick and mortar continue to prefer partnering with high-end and sophisticated payments providers with a broad range of solutions like Paysafe. CEO McHugh believes in growth available in the US iGaming market and its online gaming revenue is expected to hit $127.3 billion by 2027, starting from $59.6 billion in 2020. Paysafe is targeting to hit $103 billion in the current year with an estimation of $1.5 billion in 2021. Volume growth is approximately at 12% and is expected to accelerate from 2020 to 2023 in this timeframe where it may see a rise in percentage, from 12% to 15%. The Paysafe platform connects businesses and consumers across 70 payment types and over 40 currencies globally. As of London, it processed an annualized transaction volume of $98 billion in 2019 and had 15 million active users in more than 120 countries by the end of 2020. It was also reported to have more than 250,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Europe and North America. Its digital wallet segment is expected to tally a total of $441 million in 2021 with a 14% organic CAGR. Paysafe employs about 3000 people in all.The reason why Paysafe chose to go public includes that of deleverage. Paysafe is expected to pay outstanding debts of $1.1 billion, as said by CEO Izzy Dawood on a conference call. The company’s debt stands at about 3.5 times debt-to-Ebitda.            PaySafe - The Growth Possibilities for Vertically Focused BusinessPaysafe’s Chief Executive Officer Philip McHugh also noted that Paysafe is exposed to faster growth lanes of payments with deeper, more valuable lanes since 75% of its revenues are eCommerce and integrated and because it is a vertically focused business. McHugh also said that Paysafe will be looking to acquire more and more alternatives to payment methods and iGaming. He also noted that “we can go to a merchant with a full set of payment acceptance value propositions across eCommerce, integrated solutions, and proprietary APMs to help a merchant accept payments. But we actually bring customers to the merchant. Across digital wallets and eCash, we have 15 million consumers that we bring into the network, and that creates a two-sided impact.” Paysafe as Optimal Payments was the official sponsor of Crystal Palace Football Club for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, with the front of the team's shirts displaying Neteller’s logo. Paysafe also sponsored No.19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda in 2018. -