PSG, a specialist growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies to help them navigate transformational growth, has signed a definitive agreement to sell Pineapple Payments, a payments technology provider, to Fiserv, Inc (NASDAQ: FISV), a global specialist in payments and financial services technology solutions.
Pineapple will join the Global Business Solutions division of Fiserv as part of the Partner Solutions business unit. Founded in 2016, Pineapple Payments provides payment processing, proprietary technology, and omni-channel payment acceptance solutions for integrated software vendors (ISVs) and small and medium businesses (SMBs). After partnering with PSG in 2017, Pineapple completed seven acquisitions, enhancing its proprietary technology offerings and scaling its customer base to more than 25,000 merchants.
“PSG helped us execute on our growth strategy over the past few years through both its injection of capital to fuel acquisitions and its work with our team to build a strong foundation for scaling our merchant base and product offerings quickly,” says Pineapple Co-Founder & CEO Brian Shanahan. “The acquisition by Fiserv is the natural next step in the evolution of Pineapple Payments, and we believe this combination will accelerate our mission to offer simple, secure and scalable payments solutions to our merchants.”
“The rapid expansion of our business and our growing suite of payments technology solutions were key drivers of Pineapple’s value. Marco, Chris and the PSG team helped us refine our growth strategy and execute on it, particularly by helping identify the right acquisition opportunities,” adds Jon Halpern, Pineapple Payments Co-Founder and President. “We’re excited to combine our technology and team with the expertise and scale of Fiserv, further easing and enabling commerce for our merchants.”
“It was great to partner with the Pineapple team on their journey from an initial idea to a significant player in the payments ecosystem,” says Marco Ferrari, Managing Director at PSG. “The company’s remarkable expansion and proprietary solutions are a testament to the team’s talent and hard work, and we look forward to seeing what they can accomplish with Fiserv.”
“Given Brian Shanahan’s 30-year track record and PSG’s expertise in software and integrated payments, we knew the opportunity to back Pineapple was a perfect fit,” adds Chris Nesbitt, Principal at PSG. “In addition to Brian and Jon’s leadership, we’re very grateful to the entire Pineapple team, particularly Co-Founder and EVP Brian Gross and VP of Finance Max Rieck, for their dedication and hard work over the course of our investment, and we’re excited for their continued success.”
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Cozen O’Connor PC acted as legal advisors to Pineapple in connection with the transaction. The transaction is subject to customary approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
