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Founder / Operator·Payments

Philip Fayer

Chair and Chief Executive Officer at Nuvei

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

PF
Why they matter

Founder-CEO who took his own payments company private in a $6.3B deal and is now executing a $2.75B cross-border acquisition — deep operator view on payments consolidation economics.

Background

Philip Fayer founded Pivotal Payments (later renamed Nuvei) in 2003 while taking time off from Concordia University, building it over two decades into a global payments technology platform. He took Nuvei public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2020 in the exchange's largest-ever tech IPO, then led a US$6.3 billion take-private transaction with Advent International in 2024 while retaining the Chair and CEO roles and rolling over the large majority of his equity.

Notable deals

  • 2020
    Nuvei IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising $833 million in the TSX's largest-ever technology sector offering
  • 2023
    Nuvei completed its $1.3 billion all-cash acquisition of Paya Holdings, expanding into B2B and healthcare payments
  • 2024
    Led Nuvei's take-private transaction with Advent International, Novacap and CDPQ at $34.00/share, valuing the company at US$6.3 billion, while remaining Chair and CEO
  • 2026
    Announced Nuvei's $2.75 billion agreement to acquire Payoneer, its first major deal since going private, creating a combined platform for local and cross-border commerce

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Founded Pivotal Payments in 2003 (renamed Nuvei in 2019); built it into a global payments technology platform headquartered in Montreal.
  • Took Nuvei public on the TSX in 2020 (largest tech IPO in exchange history); took it private with Advent International, Novacap and CDPQ in a $6.3B deal in 2024, retaining Chair/CEO and rolling ~95% of his equity.

Current Focus

  • Integrating the pending $2.75B acquisition of Payoneer (announced June 2026, expected close mid-2027), which combines Nuvei's payment acceptance with Payoneer's cross-border payout and multi-currency account infrastructure.
  • Building out "agentic commerce" / invoice-to-cash payment infrastructure as a stated strategic priority.

What He Cares About

  • Consolidating fragmented payments capabilities (acceptance, payouts, cards, treasury, FX) into a single platform rather than point solutions.
  • Operating with a private-company time horizon after years of public-market pressure — he has spoken publicly about the "perils" of running a public tech company.
  • Software-led and integrated payments verticals (B2B, healthcare) as evidenced by the Paya acquisition.

Recent Moves

  • Payoneer acquisition (June 2026) — his first major deal since the 2024 take-private, signaling renewed M&A appetite under private ownership.

Potential Sensitivities

  • Regulatory/shareholder approval for Payoneer deal still pending (expected close mid-2027) — he may be guarded on integration specifics until closed.
  • Large personal equity concentration in Nuvei (~24% of the private company) means questions about liquidity, control, or exit timing may be sensitive.

Questions to Ask

  1. How does the Payoneer combination change Nuvei's competitive positioning versus Stripe, Adyen, and Worldpay in cross-border commerce?
  2. What did going private in 2024 unlock operationally that public-market ownership constrained?
  3. What's the M&A pipeline look like post-Payoneer — is this the start of a broader consolidation strategy?

Outreach draft

Subject
Nuvei-Payoneer deal — quick call?
Hi Philip, Congratulations on the Payoneer agreement — combining Nuvei's acceptance capabilities with Payoneer's cross-border payout infrastructure is a compelling move, especially so soon after taking Nuvei private. We're spending time in the merchant acquiring and cross-border payments space and would value your perspective on where consolidation is heading, particularly around how private ownership has changed Nuvei's ability to pursue larger integration bets like this one. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the coming weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Sources