Cross-Border Acquisition Helps Canadian Firm Gain Traction in U.S. iGaming Markets

By: Jeff Ifrah

A Canada-based payment technology company successfully expanded into the lucrative, and highly regulated, U.S. iGaming market by working with Ifrah Law to plan and execute the $370 million acquisition of a U.S.-based iGaming payments-processing expert.

Since its founding 2003, Canadian fintech company Nuvei Technologies has grown into a potent business accelerator for clients around the world. The company offers flexible, scalable payment processing solutions that allow companies to accept and issue payments in a number of different forms, while providing an array of related services to end customers.

By 2020, Nuvei was determined to tap into the burgeoning U.S. iGaming market by offering online gaming and sports betting operators a modular payment technology that could be customized for their specific business models. But to move forward, Nuvei would require expanded Automated Clearing House (ACH) capabilities, with both pay-in and pay-out functionality, geared specifically for online gaming in the United States. Nuvei set its sights on one highly regarded merger prospect – Mazooma – as a means to accelerate its entry into the U.S. iGaming market.

At the time, Mazooma was a leading account-to-account payments provider to iGaming companies. From the outset, Mazooma appeared to have both the requisite product excellence and the compliance and operational infrastructure to meet the needs of operators across all state regulatory regimes. But, Nuvei knew it must access discerning, specialized strategic and legal counsel to plan and execute a successful transaction in this marketplace.

Fortunately, Ifrah Law was already acting as U.S. counsel for Nuvei on licensing and regulatory issues, and our firm has extensive credentials in negotiating and closing complex transactions in the online gaming and sports betting industries. Our lawyers approach M&A scenarios with extreme vigilance regarding antitrust risks, cross-border implications, representations and warrantees, talent retention and regulatory compliance.

Ifrah worked with Nuvei for months through wide-ranging negotiations, and in April 2021 Nuvei announced that it would acquire Mazooma for $370 million (USD). The transaction officially closed in August 2021.

In addition to the Mazooma deal, Ifrah Law has advised Nuvei on other M&A pursuits, especially in due diligence efforts, from drafting due diligence policies to undertaking due diligence reviews of a target company’s regulatory, data privacy and data security profiles.

To find out more about how Ifrah Law helps clients succeed and grow across the online gaming ecosystem, download our iGaming Services brochure.

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