PSG Agrees to Sell Pineapple Payments to Fiserv
Pineapple Joins Fiserv Partner Solutions Unit, Streamlining the Delivery of Innovative Payment Solutions
BOSTON — PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies to help them navigate transformational growth, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell Pineapple Payments, a payments technology provider, to Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a global leader 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 7 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,” said 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,” added 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,” said 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,” added 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 P.C. 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 were not disclosed.
About Pineapple Payments
Pineapple Payments is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based payments technology company that provides payment processing, proprietary technology, and omni-channel payment acceptance solutions for merchants of all shapes and sizes. Its core payment platform, Transax, and suite of value-added payments tools are distributed by resellers nationwide, including some of the largest payment processing companies and Independent Sales Organizations. Pineapple Payments offers both API based and out-of-the-box solutions for everything from Hosted Payment Pages and Recurring Billing to online Invoice Management and integrations with QuickBooks and Salesforce. For more information, visit https://pineapplepayments.com/
About PSG
PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 65 companies and facilitated over 275 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London*. https://www.psgequity.com/
*Currently, the London team operates via an advisory agreement with Providence Equity LLP.