GreenSky sold to Sixth Street-led investor consortium, Goldman Sachs confirms
Goldman Sachs is to sell GreenSky, a fintech lender and buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, to a consortium of institutional investors led by San Francisco-based investment firm Sixth Street.
Goldman Sachs finalises sale of GreenSky
Joining Sixth Street as part of the consortium are funds and accounts managed by the New York-headquartered investment firm KKR, investment management firm Bayview Asset Management and credit and payments company CardWorks. Investment advisor Pimco also supported the transaction through an asset acquisition, while Toronto-based CPP Investments provided “strategic financing”.
Goldman Sachs anticipates that the transaction will reduce its earnings per share for Q3 2023 by $0.19, and will continue to operate GreenSky and report its business results until the deal closes in Q1 2024.
The announced purchase of GreenSky comes just six months after the bank first indicated its intention to part ways with the fintech it acquired for $2.24 billion in September 2021, and marks its continued migration away from retail banking.
The fintech previously proved favourable to Goldman Sachs’ consumer banking arm Marcus, but the platform was ultimately assimilated into the bank’s asset and wealth management division last October as part of a major structural reorganisation.
David Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, describes the sale of GreenSky as the “narrowing of our consumer business”, and says that while it was “an attractive business”, the bank is now choosing to dedicate itself to “advancing the strategy we laid out for our two core franchises”.
“In global banking and markets, we’ve improved our wallet share and are demonstrating strong growth in financing activities; and across our asset and wealth management platform we are making very strong progress towards both our fundraising and management fee targets,” Solomon claims.
While one door closes for Goldman Sachs, another has opened for consortium leader Sixth Street, which as Alan Waxman, its co-founder and CEO explains, intends to continue the company’s legacy of “driving growth through enhanced technology and great user experiences” – although what this will look like in practice has yet to be determined.
Waxman also reveals that the firm’s co-founder, Michael Muscolino, and its head of asset-based finance, Michael Dryden, have united a group of “strategic partners” with the goal of placing GreenSky in “the best position to succeed going forward”.
