FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 8 September 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Mergers & Acquisitions/M&A
Geely Group buys out Saxo Bank stake in joint fintech venture
Saxo Fintech was launched in 2019 to bring Saxo’s tech solutions to FIs in Mainland China.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia snaps up business lending platform Waddle from Xero
Xero announced its plan to exit the start-up earlier this year after initially acquiring it in 2020.
OTPP snaps up Caledonia Investments’ majority stake in wealth management firm 7IM for £255m
Caledonia Investments bought 7IM in September 2015 for around £100 million.
Pepper Money agrees to buy HSBC’s New Zealand mortgage portfolio
On completion, the acquired portfolio is expected to be worth NZ$1.4 billion in outstanding balance.
UK crypto fintech Altalix acquired by Clear Junction
Altalix was one of the first cryptoasset firms to be registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Complii Fintech Solutions acquires MIntegrity to reinforce regulatory offering
The acquisition includes an additional $150,000 payment dependent on MIntegrity’s financial performance.
LC Financial Holdings completes acquisition of BCM Global for undisclosed sum
LC Financial Holdings will help BCM Global expand its business and develop new services across Europe.
Ugandan fintech Asaak acquires FlexClub Mexico for undisclosed sum
The acquisition marks Asaak’s entry into the Latin American market after achieving profitability in Uganda.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 1 September 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Banking Technology Magazine September 2023 issue out now
Cover story: WINDS OF CHANGE – Squaring the circle on climate change.
Delta Capita names Alan Philpot as new CPO
The appointment follows the launch of the company’s distributed ledger services venture in April.
PandaDoc buys Denario for consolidated document and payment workflow offering
PandaDoc clients can now “manage, collect and report on invoices alongside their contracts, all in one location”.
Goldman Sachs to wave goodbye to GreenSky as proposed sale enters final stages
Some offers for the Atlanta-based fintech are reportedly topping $800 million.
Goldman Sachs sells personal financial management business to Creative Planning
The move is part of the bank’s continued shift to focus on serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Trustly acquires French paytech SlimPay for a reported €70m
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.
Better.com’s share price stumbles on Nasdaq debut
The New York-based digital mortgage lender went public through a SPAC merger this week.
Alpha Bank acquires Orange Money’s Romanian retail business
Alpha Bank Romania is aiming to become “one of the key players in the Romanian digital banking space”.
Auxmoney buys majority stake in Dutch credit marketplace Lender & Spender
With the stake, Auxmoney plans to build upon its “continuous organic growth” of recent years.
Thoma Bravo acquires ForgeRock for $2.3bn
Once acquired, ForgeRock will delist its class A common stock from the New York Stock Exchange.
Yahoo Finance builds out investor insights with Commonstock acquisition
Launched in 2020, Commonstock is backed by investors including Coatue, QED and Floodgate.
KPMG data shows steep drop in Canadian fintech funding in H1 2023
H1 2023 investment activity totalled $353.7m across 57 deals, down from $1.09 billion across 87 deals in H2 2022.
Moniepoint gets the go-ahead to acquire Kenyan fintech Kopo Kopo
For Moniepoint, which operates in Nigeria, the acquisition allows it to expand its footprint into Kenya.
Trading Technologies enhances buy-side appeal with Abel Noser Solutions acquisition
The deal is expected to close on 31 August.
Colendi lands banking licence to become Turkey’s first digital deposit bank
As Turkey’s first digital bank, ColendiBank is aiming to reach 50 million customers regionally.
Velo Payments to acquire payment processing platform YapStone
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
FullCircl reinforces compliance suite with W2 Global Data Solutions acquisition
Under the terms of the deal, W2 will now trade as ‘W2 by FullCircl’.
GoLogiq signs letter of intent to acquire Fram Venture 7 and SME lender DragonLend
The $6 million deal is to be completed via an all-stock transaction by September.
Splitit plans to go private for stringent $60m capital commitment
Part of the commitment requires the US BNPL vendor to redomicile to the Cayman Islands.
Turkish fintech Param acquires BNPL firm Twisto to boost European expansion
Param plans to leverage Twisto’s licences to offer its embedded financial solutions across Europe.
Paytech Matera acquires Brazilian AI firm Cinnecta for undisclosed sum
The acquisition will enable Matera’s clients to enhance their sales capabilities through actionable insights.
Finland’s Basware makes offer to acquire Irish fintech Glantus for £17.8m
The transaction is subject to all necessary approvals, and is expected to be finalised in Q4 2023.
Better.com gears up to go public through SPAC merger
According to an SEC filing, the merger is set to close “on or about” 22 August 2023.
DBS completes acquisition of Citi’s consumer banking business in Taiwan
DBS has also absorbed close to 3,000 employees from Citi Consumer Taiwan.
Nationwide Building Society transfers financial planning service to Aegon UK
The transfer is set to take place in early 2024.
Specialist lender Shawbrook reportedly mulling Co-operative Bank merger
Sky News reports Shawbrook has approached the Co-operative Bank’s owners about a potential deal.
Svatantra to acquire Navi Group’s microfinance subsidiary for $178.6m
On completion of the deal, Svatantra says it will become the second largest microfinance entity in India.
MarketAxess acquires Pragma to leverage quantitative trading technology
MarketAxess aims to accelerate the development of quantitative execution algorithms for fixed-income products.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma buys 10% stake in Paytm worth $628m from Antfin
Sharma’s shareholdings in Paytm will increase to 19.42%, while Antfin’s shareholdings are reduced to 13.5%.
Mexican challenger Albo snaps up Delt.ai for $20m
The acquisition makes Albo “the only neobank to offer debit and credit products for both consumers and SMBs”.
