July 2024: Top five M&A deals of the month
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are common occurrences in the world of fintech, often reshaping businesses and redefining the market landscape.
Here, we take a look at five of the top M&A deals in July, including highlights from Envestnet, UniCredit, DKK Partners, Robinhood and more.
BlackRock to acquire private markets data provider Preqin for $3.2bn
BlackRock to acquire Preqin for $3.2 billion
US asset management firm BlackRock is set to acquire Preqin, a private markets data solutions provider headquartered in the UK, in a $3.2 billion (£2.55 billion) cash deal.
The transaction will merge Preqin’s data and research tools with BlackRock’s portfolio management platform Aladdin and its private markets solution eFront.
This combination, BlackRock says, will consolidate the data, research and investment process for fund managers and investors across fundraising, deal sourcing, portfolio management, accounting and performance, creating a “preeminent private markets technology and data provider”.
It will also see Preqin founder Mark O’Hare join BlackRock as a vice chair.
The transaction is expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approval.
Robinhood buys AI-powered investment research platform Pluto Capital
Robinhood has snapped up investment research platform Pluto Capital for an undisclosed sum, marking the digital trading platform’s second acquisition in recent months.
Pluto offers a free trading platform which, powered by large language models (LLMs) and AI-powered analysis tools, enables users to curate their own automated trading strategies.
The deal is expected to enable Robinhood to provide enhanced data analysis, personalised investment strategies and real-time insights and portfolio optimisation capabilities to traders on its own platform.
As part of the transaction, Pluto founder and CEO, Jacob Sansbury, is to join Robinhood’s team as an “AI technologist”, according to his LinkedIn.
Bain Capital to acquire US fintech Envestnet in $4.5bn deal
Envestnet acquired by Bain Capital in $4.5 billion deal
Bain Capital is set to acquire US wealth management software provider Envestnet in a deal worth $4.5 billion.
The proposed acquisition, which has been unanimously approved by Envestnet’s board of directors, will see the fintech become a privately held company and is expected to close in Q4 2024.
Bain Capital partner Marvin Larbi-Yeboa says the firm will work to support the fintech’s growth strategy “through organic and inorganic initiatives”, while making “further investments in its differentiated product offering”.
Reverence Capital is also participating in the transaction, alongside an investor consortium featuring BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton and State Street Global Advisors.
Each will hold “minority positions” in the company upon completion of the deal, Envestnet says.
Meridien Holdings acquires stake in FX liquidity firm DKK Partners to bolster plans for NYSE listing
US-based holding company Meridien has acquired a 27% stake in DKK Partners in exchange for a “multimillion-dollar cash injection” as it gears up to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
As part of its new “strategic alliance”, the fintech is to supply the holding company, in which it has also gained shares through the transaction, with “global payment, acquiring, banking and FX liquidity capabilities”, according to a statement.
Meridien also stands to benefit from the approval DKK Partners received from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in February, which enables it to provide virtual asset broker dealer services in the UAE.
Meridien says the acquisition and aggregation of “financially regulated institutions across multiple geographies” is its “strategic objective”, culminating in the “seamless transfer of value across the Meridien ecosystem combining both TradFi and DeFi”.
UniCredit set to acquire Aion Bank and BaaS provider Vodeno for €370m
UniCredit to buy Vodeno Group for €370 million
Italian bank UniCredit has inked a binding agreement to acquire Belgian digital native Aion Bank and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider Vodeno for the sum of approximately €370 million.
The Milan-based commercial bank says its purchase brings a “next generation core banking technology” and an improved embedded finance offering into its remit “without any dependencies from third party core banking providers”.
At present, Vodeno uses Aion Bank’s full EU banking licence to provide banking services through its cloud-native, fully API-based BaaS platform, while Aion Bank leverages Vodeno within its core banking operations, payment processing and customer onboarding functions.
The acquisition includes the entire share capital of both companies, along with 200 engineers, developers and data scientists, and is expected to close in Q4 2024.
