Payments company Nuvei has entered into an agreement to acquire Simplex, a fintech startup that provides fiat infrastructure for crypto companies, for about $250 million in cash.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval, according to a news release.
The acquisition will give Nuevi an electronic money institution license to offer “IBAN accounts” to users and companies. Also, it can offer future banking and card issuing capabilities. Simplex is a member of the Visa network and can issue Visa cards. Simplex has processed about $500 million of total volume in 2020 and expects to process over $2 billion in total volume in 2021.
“We expect Simplex to enhance and expand Nuvei’s steadily growing portfolio of alternative payment methods, adding turnkey simplicity to the process of buying and selling cryptocurrency and converting it back to fiat within a user account – ultimately reducing complexity for merchants and consumers,” Philip Fayer, Nuvei’s Chair and CEO said in a statement.
Simplex is a “fiat-cryptocurrency gateway,” that connects exchanges, brokers, wallet and liquidity providers. The startup, which was founded in 2014, provides the infrastructure for users to buy or sell crypto using credit and debit cards.
“By joining Nuvei, Simplex will be able to fulfill its promise of bridging the gap between the blockchain space and the traditional finance world. We couldn’t have thought of a better partner for us, and we are excited for what the future holds,” Nimrod Lehavi, Simplex’s Co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.
Nuvei unites payment technology and consulting to help businesses operate their payment processes. The company’s platform connects merchants in 200 markets across the globe with local acquiring in 44 markets. The company supports almost 150 currencies and 40 cryptocurrencies.
In other payments news, FinLedger recently wrote about Railz, a Toronto-based company that offers an API that integrates with most accounting software service providers used by small businesses, wants to help banks and fintechs harness and analyze accounting data easily and quickly. The company on Thursday announced that it raised more than $15 million, including $12 million in Series A funding, on top of a $3.1 million seed round that closed at the end of 2020.