AnaCap buys more NPLs in Italy; plans digital bank in the UK
AnaCap plans digital bank in the UK
AnaCap Financial Partners, a private equity firm based in the UK, has acquired non-performing loans (NPLs) of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and GE Capital Real Estate in Italy. It is also understood to be crystallising a strategy to launch a new digital bank in the UK.
The acquisitive PE firm has gained over €2 billion worth of NPLs with the latest Italian deal. This adds to AnaCap’s existing NPL portfolios in the country (acquired from UniCredit). All in all, AnaCap holds around €8 billion of Italian NPLs, accumulated over the past four years.
In the UK, meanwhile, AnaCap is keen to join the digital banking rush, it would seem. The project is known as “Abacus” (a somewhat unconventional choice of name for a digital project). Two vendors are known to be vying for the deal, Temenos and Misys.
Temenos is pitching its T24 core banking system and Temenos Connect for digital channels, whilst Misys is offering its FusionBanking Essence front-to-back office system.
AnaCap is already familiar with T24: the system is in use at one of AnaCap’s subsidiaries, Aldemore Bank (a UK-based banking player focused on SMEs).
AnaCap: European tour
AnaCap owns a number of financial institutions across Europe.
In Poland it has FM Bank PBP, which is a new addition to the portfolio. AnaCap received the green light for the acquisition from the country’s regulator, KNF, last autumn.
For its technology, FM Bank PBP is a broad user of Oracle. It runs Oracle FSS’s Flexcube (version 11) for its core and Flexcube Direct for online banking, plus Oracle’s business intelligence and middleware products. There are still some components of the legacy solution, def3000, supplied by domestic vendor Asseco.
In the Czech Republic, AnaCap owns Equa Bank, which is also an Oracle user. Flexcube replaced the legacy Quaestor core system, which stemmed from the Netherlands-based vendor, Allshare, but was maintained by the bank internally. The project was carried out five or so years ago.
And finally, in Malta, AnaCap owns Mediterranean Bank. The bank runs Infosys’ Finacle as its core banking system. The core banking implementation project there took place in 2010.
