Finaro, a global cross-border payments provider based in Israel, was acquired by Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR), a leading payment processing company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The acquisition, valued at $575M, was announced on March 1, 2022, and marked a significant strategic move by Shift4 to expand its international reach and capabilities. The acquisition closed successfully in October 2023, integrating Finaro's innovative cross-border payment solutions into Shift4's global payment ecosystem. Shareholder payments were made through a combination of cash and stock considerations.
Between 2019 and 2022, Equitybee facilitated the funding of stock option packages for 25 Finaro employees. Shortly after the final funding, the M&A deal was announced, allowing investors to achieve impressive returns on their investments.
The table below highlights the returns generated from all Finaro offers facilitated through Equitybee, reflecting the different components of the deal: cash consideration per funded Finaro share, and stock consideration where each Finaro share additionally received 0.4 Shift4 shares.
| Offer # | Net MOIC* | Net IRR** | Net ROI | Funded Date | Offer Price | Share Incentive % | Distribution Date | Settlement Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offer #1 | 2.48x | 17.74% | 140.40% | Jul 16, 2019 | $7.56 | 60% | 11/28/2024 | $44.33 |
| Offer #2 | 2.56x | 19.45% | 147.61% | Oct 7, 2019 | $7.56 | 60% | 11/28/2024 | $46.43 |
| Offer #3 | 2.54x | 19.33% | 146.39% | Dec 11, 2019 | $7.56 | 60% | 11/28/2024 | $45.73 |
| Offer #4 | 2.24x | 17.50% | 117.33% | Feb 6, 2020 | $7.56 | 50% | 11/28/2024 | $44.59 |
| Offer #5 | 2.28x | 17.91% | 121.02% | Feb 11, 2020 | $7.56 | 50% | 11/28/2024 | $45.96 |
| Offer #6 | 2.22x | 18.77% | 116.00% | Jun 9, 2020 | $7.56 / $9.00 | 50% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $32.48 |
| Offer #7 | 1.93x | 15.70% | 88.39% | Sep 14, 2020 | $7.56 / $11.01 | 50% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $44.73 |
| Offer #8 | 1.87x | 15.96% | 82.79% | Nov 11, 2020 | $11.01 | 60% | 11/28/2024 | $43.80 |
| Offer #9 | 2.08x | 20.34% | 102.38% | Mar 8 2021 | $7.56 / $9.00 / $11.01 | 50% / 55% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $44.68 |
| Offer #10 | 2.24x | 23.17% | 117.37% | Mar 8, 2021 | $7.56 | 50% | 11/28/2024 | $44.13 |
| Offer #11 | 1.96x | 18.08% | 91.10% | Mar 8, 2021 | $7.56 / $11.01 | 50% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $45.50 |
| Offer #12 | 2.27x | 23.91% | 120.78% | Mar 29, 2021 | $7.56 | 50% | 11/28/2024 | $45.07 |
| Offer #13 | 2.21x | 23.26% | 114.79% | Apr 8, 2021 | $3.8 / $6.4 /$7.56 / $9.00 / $11.01 | 35% / 45% / 50% / 55% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $45.30 |
| Offer #14 | 1.99x | 19.93% | 93.65% | Apr 18, 2021 | $7.56 / $11.01 | 50% / 60% | 11/28/2024 | $44.02 |
| Offer #15 | 2.29x | 24.96% | 122.69% | May 2, 2021 | $7.56 | 50% | 11/28/2024 | $46.44 |
| Offer #16 | 1.68x | 15.45% | 64.69% | Jun 10, 2021 | $11.01 | 45% | 11/28/2024 | $45.92 |
| Offer #17 | 1.88x | 19.38% | 83.19% | Jul 4, 2021 | $7.56 | 35% | 11/28/2024 | $45.92 |
| Offer #18 | 1.74x | 17.36% | 70.21% | Jul 30, 2021 | $7.56 / $11.01 | 35% / 45% | 11/28/2024 | $32.14 |
| Offer #19 | 1.66x | 15.73% | 62.10% | Aug 22, 2021 | $11.01 | 45% | 11/28/2024 | $44.51 |
| Offer #20 | 2.24x | 28.26% | 117.87% | Oct 17, 2021 | $7.56 | 35% | 11/28/2024 | $45.92 |
| Offer #21 | 1.87x | 17.54% | 82.68% | Feb 5, 2022 | $11.01 | 60% | 11/28/2024 | $44.09 |
| Offer #22 | 2.03x | 27.14% | 97.84% | Feb 6, 2022 | $7.56 | 30% | 11/28/2024 | $44.87 |
| Offer #23 | 2.06x | 28.51% | 100.73% | Feb 28, 2022 | $7.56 | 30% | 11/28/2024 | $46.09 |
| Offer #24 | 1.38x | 12.01% | 35.97% | Mar 16, 2022 | $7.56 | 12% | 11/28/2024 | $45.04 |
| Offer #25 | 1.64x | 19.44% | 60.60% | Apr 6, 2022 | $7.56 / $11.01 | 19% / 33% | 11/28/2024 | $44.14 |
*Multiple on Invested Capital
**Internal Rate of Return, net of fees
Past performance is not indicative of future results. 19.33% IRR represents the median IRR experienced by investors who utilized Equitybee to fund the 25 Finaro offers. Offers were funded between 07/16/2019 and 04/06/2022. Net IRR is shown net of all applicable fees. IRR figures are calculated for each offer on the Equitybee platform from the date the investor's funds were transferred to the employee (funded date) through the distribution date of proceeds. Equitybee is not affiliated or associated with, or endorsed by, any of the companies mentioned herein. Equitybee executes Simple Option Funding Agreements (SOFAs), which are speculative, illiquid, contain substantial risk and may result in the complete loss of capital to the investor. These risks may be greater during extreme market conditions. SOFAs do not grant or transfer ownership of stock. When a liquidity event occurs at a price per share less than the investment price per share, Investors will first receive all available funds to recoup the original investment amount. The employee will not receive any proceeds in this event. Offers are made for accredited investors only.
Startup employees often receive stock options as part of their compensation. To convert these options into shares, employees must exercise their right to purchase these stock options, which involves significant upfront capital. Many employees cannot afford to do this, missing out on participating in the potential future success of the companies. Equitybee’s investors can provide the needed capital, allowing employees to exercise their options. In return, investors receive their initial investment, annual interest, and a percentage of the equity's value upon a successful liquidity event, such as an IPO or acquisition. This creates a mutually beneficial opportunity in a largely untapped market worth over $150 billion*.
Despite the aforementioned distribution drought from traditional US venture capital funds (mainly stemming from the lack of IPOs), Equitybee investments have continued to generate liquidity from a myriad of liquidity event types. This well-balanced mix means that Equitybee investors don’t need to rely on a hot IPO market to receive distributions. Additionally, tender offers (Equitybee’s historically highest performing liquidity event type) are a mostly unique exit route tied to the funding of employee stock options, which typically traditional VCs don’t have access to. Specifically, tender offers & secondaries liquidity events through Equitybee investments have delivered a 2.81x net multiple on invested capital in just under 2 years on average.
*TAM is calculated based on the estimated number of startup employees (1.1M) in the companies that qualify to receive funding through the Equitybee platform.
This number is derived from Pitchbook, multiplied by the average employee offer size sourced from Equitybee s proprietary data.
** Weighted average for MoIC, sourced from Equitybee s proprietary data
*** Indicates average time from investment date to distribution date, sourced from Equitybee s proprietary data
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Private placements are speculative, illiquid, contain substantial risk and may result in the complete loss of
capital to the investor. Consult your tax accountant as there may be tax considerations on profit amounts. Results may vary with each use and over time. Investor
proceeds may be settled in cash or shares.
Equitybee executes private financing contracts (PFCs), private placements which fund employee stock options. PFCs do not grant or transfer ownership of startup company stock, are speculative, illiquid, and are subject to risk including the complete loss of capital to the investor. Risks may be greater during extreme market conditions. Please read the private placement memorandum before investing. Securities offered through EquityBee Securities, LLC, member FINRA.
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Past performance is not indicative of future results. 37% net IRR represents all fully realized investments across the Equitybee platform, including US and Israel markets. Investors should be aware that these returns were primarily achieved during favorable market conditions. Results based on offers from June 2018 through July 2024. Net IRR is shown net of all applicable fees for the respective market. This performance data does not represent any investor’s portfolio or any model portfolio. IRR figures are calculated for each transaction into an offer on the Equitybee platform from the date the investor's funds were received through the distribution date of proceeds, if any. If the distribution date was less than one year after the invested date, the IRR represents an unannualized return. For distributions one year or more after invested date, IRR is annualized. Data quoted excludes partial returns of invested capital, e.g., tender offers for a portion of covered securities, and investments which have not experienced a liquidity event. As of July 31, 2024 approximately $108M million has been invested on the Equitybee platform; 17.9% of invested capital has experienced a fully realized return, 82.1% of invested capital is unrealized or partially realized.