13 Dec 2019

Pushpay buys US competitor for US$87.5m

4:37 pm on 13 December 2019

The United States-based mobile payments business Pushpay has bought the US software company Church Community Builder for US$87.5 million (NZ$132.2m).

Pushpay chief executive Chris Heaslip.

Pushpay co-founder Chris Heaslip will retire from the board in March. Photo: Pushpay

The companies would merge and add 4000 US church customers, to bring Pushpay's total customer base to 10,000.

"This strategic partnership enables us to better serve our customers as we strive to be the number one partner to the U.S. faith sector," Pushpay chief executive Bruce Gordon said.

"With a shared passion to serve the faith sector, we look forward to bringing continued investment and support to our customers with a truly differentiated, innovative product offering."

Pushpay is listed on the New Zealand stock exchange but sold payments software mostly to US charities and churches.

It planned to fund the purchase through a mix of cash and debt, with Church Community Builder's founder Chris Fowler taking a 2.4 percent stake in Pushpay from its co-founder Chris Heaslip.

Mr Heaslip would resign from Pushpay's board in March, and Mr Fowler would join as an executive director.

The acquisition would not impact its Pushpay's guidance for the year to March, however it was expected to increase revenue and margins from 2021 onwards.