Benzinga | Apr 8, 2021 10:52AM EDT

PAR Technology Stock Is Trading Higher On Acquiring Punchh For $500M

* PAR Technology Corp (NYSE: PAR) has acquired loyalty and guest engagement solutions provider Punchh Inc for $500 million in cash and PAR stock.

* This arrangement will catapult PAR into a unified commerce cloud platform for enterprise restaurants and position it to lead the industry with integrated point-of-sale, back office, payment, and guest engagement solutions.

* PAR financed the cash component through a combination of equity and debt, including sale proceeds from $160 million of PAR shares to T. Rowe Price Associates affiliate PAR Act III and a $180 million senior secured term loan from Owl Rock First Lien Master Fund as administrative and collateral agent.

* Act III Partner Keith Pascal joined the PAR board. Act III Managing Partner and founder of Panera Bread Ron Shaich assumed a Board Observer seat.

* "This eliminates the need for juggling disjointed vendors, developing cumbersome point-to-point integrations, and relying on 3rd party dependencies. At the same time, Punchh advances our ability to provide customers with an end-to-end solution, from guest-to-kitchen, through one unified data source," CEO Savneet Singh said.

* PAR held $180.7 million in cash and equivalents as of Dec. 31, 2020.

* Price action: PAR shares traded higher by 21.3% at $75.60 on the last check Thursday.