European fintech acquisitions returned to the deal calendar in June 2024, with four announcements landing across UK retail banking, French SME banking, Swedish e-commerce checkout software, and German point-of-sale systems. The European fintech acquisitions covered below were announced between 14 June and 24 June 2024, and involved buyers from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States, and a Stockholm-based investor consortium.
The European fintech acquisitions backdrop in 2023 was a year of reduced deal flow. Only 128 M&A deals were recorded in the first half of 2023, compared with 248 in the first half of 2022 and 188 in the second half. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, payments, treasury management software, and corporate spinoffs were drawing renewed M&A interest by mid-2024, signalling continued recovery from 2023’s deal slowdown.
European Fintech Acquisitions in June 2024 at a Glance
The four European fintech acquisitions covered span a £2.5 billion UK retail banking portfolio transfer, a $520 million divestment of Sweden’s Klarna Checkout business, an exclusive agreement to acquire a French SME banking platform from Société Générale, and a majority stake acquisition in a German-listed point-of-sale company. Three of the four European fintech acquisitions involved divestments by larger groups looking to refocus on core operations.
1. NatWest Acquires Sainsbury’s Bank Retail Banking Business
NatWest Group announced on 20 June 2024 that it had entered into an agreement with Sainsbury’s Bank to acquire the retail banking assets and liabilities of the supermarket-owned bank. The acquisition covers approximately £2.5 billion of gross customer assets, comprising £1.4 billion of unsecured personal loans and £1.1 billion of credit card balances, alongside approximately £2.6 billion of customer deposits.
NatWest will also add around one million customer accounts as part of the transaction. Sainsbury’s Bank will pay NatWest a £125 million consideration on completion. The deal does not include Sainsbury’s Bank commission income business such as insurance, cash points, and travel money, and Argos Financial Services is also outside the scope. NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite stated the transaction adds scale to the bank’s credit card and unsecured personal lending business and provides a complementary customer base. Sainsbury’s announced in January 2024 that it would wind down its banking division to focus on grocery, having sold its mortgage book to The Co-operative Bank earlier. The retail banking transfer is being implemented through a Part VII banking business transfer scheme, which took effect on 1 May 2025. The deal followed a similar transaction earlier in 2024 in which UK supermarket Tesco sold most of its banking activities to Barclays for £600 million. The Sainsbury’s deal ranks as the largest of these European fintech acquisitions by gross customer assets transferred.
2. Klarna Sells KCO to BLQ Invest Consortium for $520 Million
Klarna announced on 24 June 2024 the divestment of Klarna Checkout (KCO) to a consortium of investors led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi, CEO and Founding Partner at Stockholm-based BLQ Invest. The transaction values the unit at approximately 5.4 billion Swedish kronor ($520 million). Other consortium members include Systematic Growth founder Ashkan Pouya and Vitamin Well AB co-founder Martin Randel. Buyers assumed ownership on 1 October 2024.
Klarna Checkout launched in 2012 in Northern Europe. The product holds a market share above 40% in Sweden and over 20% across the Nordics. Klarna stated the divestment allows the company to concentrate on its flexible payment methods, which it offers through multiple service providers including Stripe and Adyen. Klarna and the buyers continue to work together under a distribution partner agreement, and Klarna’s payment methods remain offered through the checkout. Deutsche Bank served as sole financial advisor on the transaction. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the buyers were handpicked to continue creating value for merchant partners. This was among the larger European fintech acquisitions of the month by disclosed value.
3. Ageras Agrees to Acquire Shine from Société Générale
Ageras announced on 19 June 2024 that it had entered into an exclusive agreement with Société Générale to acquire Shine, a French SME fintech. The transaction was Ageras’ eighth acquisition overall and its largest to date. The agreement followed Ageras’ €82 million fundraise announced in April 2024.
Shine launched in 2017, and Société Générale became its majority shareholder in 2020. The platform offers an online business account for self-employed and small businesses, with over 100,000 customers as of the announcement. Shine also provides invoicing, payments, and company formation services. Rico Andersen and Martin Hegelund founded Ageras in 2012, and the company has raised over €200 million from investors including Investcorp, Luxor Capital, Rabobank, and Lazard. Ageras serves more than 300,000 SME customers across France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The transaction required approval from the French banking regulator ACPR, which granted final approval on 11 December 2024. Ageras then took over all Shine activities and employees. The Shine deal joins the European fintech acquisitions completed by the end of 2024 after a June announcement.
4. Shift4 Acquires Majority Stake in Vectron Systems
Shift4 announced on 14 June 2024 that it had acquired a majority stake in Vectron Systems AG, a Germany-based supplier of point-of-sale systems to the restaurant and hospitality sectors. Vectron operates approximately 65,000 POS locations across Europe and a distribution network of around 300 POS resellers, representing what Shift4 described as a €25 billion volume opportunity with minimal payment monetisation at the time of the announcement.
Shift4 stated it would acquire additional ownership of Vectron through a public tender offer, followed by delisting and integration. Reports placed the disclosed value of the majority stake at approximately €85 million. Perella Weinberg acted as financial advisor and Gleiss-Lutz as legal advisor on the Vectron transaction. Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman said the deal would unlock synergies and monetise payments for the existing Vectron install base. On the same date, Shift4 also completed its previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems, a US-based POS provider with over 18,000 merchant locations and an estimated $17 billion payment opportunity. Chiesa, Shahinian, and Giantomasi acted as legal advisor on the Revel acquisition. The Vectron transaction was the only deal among these European fintech acquisitions in June 2024 with a US-based acquirer of a European target.
These four European fintech acquisitions sit alongside other June 2024 deal flow tracked in the corporate acquisitions category at FintechBits, following the European fintech transaction recovery that continued through Q1 2025.
