By Gloria Methri
March 28, 2024
- Capital box
- Europe
- FinTech
In 2023, the FinTech sector saw a slowdown in deal activity as companies around the world took a cautious approach to mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In the first half of the year, only 128 M&A deals were recorded, compared to 248 and 188 in the first and second halves of 2022.
Despite the contraction, companies remain interested in exploring options and are looking forward to closing potential deals when market conditions improve. Several FinTech segments, including payments, treasury management software and corporate spinoffs, are attracting M&A interest, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Let’s look at five of these announcements made this month:
Nationwide Building Society, a UK-based private lender, has confirmed the acquisition of its rival Virgin money for approximately £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion). The deal is expected to allow Nationwide to enter the investment banking business and increase its share of the UK mortgage and savings market. The acquisition is expected to enable Nationwide to accelerate its strategy and broaden and deepen its products and services.
CapitalBox, the specialist in alternative financing for SMEs in Europe, has announced the acquisition of Copenhagen-based Omniveta Finance. Omniveta is an invoice purchasing company dedicated to improving loan liquidity for SMEs in Denmark. Founded in 2012, the company specialises in invoice purchasing, complementing CapitalBox’s existing offering of alternative financing solutions.
Levenue, the European revenue financing company, has acquired MidFunder, a Zurich-based FinTech that provides financing to companies with recurring revenues. The acquisition marks a strategic move to strengthen Levenue’s Swiss operations. Initially focused on crowdfunding for SMEs, MidFunder has pivoted to a revenue financing platform for digital businesses.
GoCardless, the banking payments company, has signed an agreement to acquire Sentinel Ltd, operating globally under the Nuapay brand, from EML Payments Limited. The acquisition will enable GoCardless to significantly expand its indirect channel proposition, cementing its position as a key payments provider for existing and new customer segments including Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs).
Fintel, a provider of FinTech and support services to the UK retail financial services sector, has announced the acquisition of ifaDASH, a provider of practice digitisation solutions. The acquisition was made through Fintel IQ, with investment designed to support the accelerated development, growth and scale of ifaDASH. The ifaDASH system acts as a platform through which advisors can connect front and back-office CRM data, MI training and skills, and vulnerable client information from multiple systems into a single integrated platform.
Also read: Applications of artificial intelligence in the banking sector Q2 2024