Paystone Files for Creditor Protection After Debt-Fueled Acquisition Spree

London, Ontario-based payment processor Paystone filed for creditor protection in early June, court documents show. The company, which serves 38,000 small- and medium-sized merchants across Canada and the U.S., is pursuing a restructuring and sale to a new entity controlled by its co-founders.

The filing follows a years-long acquisition spree. Since 2019, Paystone bought DataCandy, NXGEN Canada, NiceJob, Canadian Payment Services, and Ackroo, financing those deals partly with debt. A report from court-appointed monitor AlixPartners said the debt load became untenable given what it called "operational and market headwinds," including a costly billing error in April 2025.

That error saw Paystone overcharge a large portion of its customers by a factor of 100. The company said the mistake, combined with high debt and rising interest rates, triggered a loan default and forced it to explore a sale or new financing.

Paystone now seeks approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a sale to a numbered company controlled by CEO Tarique Al-Ansari and CFO Abdullah Saab. The restructuring would cut Paystone's debt to $60 million. As of April, the company had roughly $51 million in assets and $118 million in liabilities. Sandton is owed more than $92 million; the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is owed nearly $12 million as a subordinate creditor.