A consortium consisting of Sixth Street and BGH Capital has signed an agreement to acquire New Zealand-based payments and technology company Pushpay Holdings for $895m in cash.

Currently, private equity investors Sixth Street and BGH Capital, through their entities, together own 20.34% of the shares in Pushpay.

The offer price represents a 30.1% premium to the undisturbed share price of Pushpay at NZ$1.03 per share on 22 April this year.

Graham Shaw — Pushpay chairman said: “Following the receipt of various unsolicited, non-binding expressions of interest to acquire the Company, the Board formed an Independent Committee, appointed external advisers and undertook a comprehensive process, with a view to exploring opportunities to enhance shareholder value.

“In considering the options, including the possibility of continuing to implement the Company’s growth strategy as a publicly listed company, the Board adopted a long-term view of the risks and rewards of various alternatives.

“After a thorough assessment, the Board believes that the Sixth Street / BGH Consortium Scheme proposal currently represents the most compelling value for shareholders.

“Although the Board remains confident in the future of Pushpay, the transaction will accelerate a capital return to shareholders and mitigates the risks that would otherwise be involved in delivering the opportunities from executing Pushpay’s strategic plan over time. Accordingly, the Board is pleased to unanimously recommend the transaction to shareholders.”

The agreement is subject to approval from Pushpay shareholders and New Zealand High Court, regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Pushpay aims to simplify engagement, payments and administration with a portfolio of solutions that include a donor management system consisting of donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, and video streaming solutions to the faith sector, non-profit organisations and education providers mainly located in the US and other jurisdictions.

Molly Matthews — Pushpay CEO said: “Pushpay will continue to focus on serving its Customers and achieving its mission of being the preferred provider of mission critical software to the US faith sector.

“The Company remains focused on investing in its customer service and product suite to accelerate and continue the growth opportunities the management team identifies for the business, which is a broad strategy for which both our Board and Sixth Street / BGH Consortium have indicated ongoing support.”

  BGH Capital, Fintech industry news, Graham Shaw, Molly Matthews, New Zealand, Pushpay, Sixth Street, USA