Montreal payments company Nuvei Corp. made history Thursday with an IPO that raised US$700 million — the largest amount by a technology company in TSX history.
The company’s more than 26.9 million subordinate voting shares were trading for nearly US$44 by mid-afternoon, well above the US$26 at which they were priced and the early valuation of between US$20 to US$22.
Nuvei is now on track to nab US$625 million in gross proceeds from the IPO, which is expected to close on Tuesday and is subject to customary closing conditions.
The offering comes at a time of high interest in tech-sector investments. Many companies in the industry have proved resilient amid the COVID-19 pandemic, even experiencing an uptick.
Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify Inc., which raised $131 million through its 2015 IPO, has seen its stock surge to be valued at well over $1,200.
Canadians who stayed home and shifted their spending to online platforms helped Shopify temporarily overtake the country’s most valuable company, Royal Bank of Canada, on the TSX.
Earlier in the month, Montreal cloud technology business Lightspeed POS Inc. tried its luck on the New York Stock Exchange, raising US$305 million in the process.
As of Aug. 31, there were 211 technology companies listed on both TSX and TSX Venture Exchange with a combined market capitalization of $289 billion.
Nuvei’s IPO occurred 17 years after Philip Fayer started the company, which later earned the backing of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and private-equity firm Novacap.
Fayer grew Nuvei into a brand with 50,000 customers and at least 750 workers. The company says it processed $35 billion in payments annually and reported $245.8 million in revenues last year.
Company spokesperson Kevin McLaughlin said the company is declining interviews on the IPO until next week, when retail investors can begin trading its stock that is currently available to institutions only.
However, Fayer said in a statement, “As we continue to grow globally, we are proud to represent our roots in Quebec and partner with TSX to put our company on the world stage for investors, while maintaining a keen focus on building value for shareholders, employees, partners and customers, alike.”
Nuvei’s offering was made through underwriters led by Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, as joint bookrunners, and Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc., Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., TD Securities Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Cowen and Company, LLC, Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. and William Blair and Company, L.L.C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2020.
Companies in this story: (TSX: NVEI. U)
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press