FairFX gains e-money licence with takeover of digital banking service for SMEs, Q Money
FairFX, a London-based multicurrency payments service, has acquired Q Money and its e-money licence.
Mergers & Acquisitions/M&A
Fintech Acquisition Corp team returns to Nasdaq to raise $153m
The Fintech Acquisition Corp I team that raised $100 million through an IPO in February 2015, has returned a new blank check company – Fintech Acquisition Corp II. It seeks to raise $153 million.
Daimler Financial Services buys PayCash Europe
Daimler Financial Services is acquiring e-payments services provider PayCash Europe, based in Luxembourg. This will enable Daimler to launch its own e-payments service under the Mercedes Pay brand.
CMA comments on current account switching plans & VocaLink’s takeover by Mastercard
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK has accepted undertakings from the Bacs payment scheme that commit it to delivering the improvements required by the CMA retail banking market investigation within a year.
AnaCap to acquire German payments provider Heidelpay
Private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners is taking over a controlling stake in Heidelpay, an online payment service provider (PSP) in Germany. Heidelpay’s co-founders and existing management will retain a minority stake in the business.
Private equity firms to buy German payments provider Concardis from local banks
Advent International and Bain Capital Private Equity have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Concardis, a German payment services provider currently owned by local banks. It is understood the price tag is around €700 million.
UK BPO and fintech provider Target Group buys Commercial First
Target Group, a UK-based business process outsourcing (BPO) and software vendor, has purchased the operating business of Commercial First, a provider of commercial and residential mortgage servicing, due diligence and property valuations. Commercial First, also based in the UK, provides clients with services in the real estate lending market ranging from loan administration through to […]
InvestCloud acquires Babel Systems for $20m
California-based InvestCloud has acquired Babel Systems in London for $20 million. Babel provides a modular and API-based trade and accounting platform, while InvestCloud has over 660 clients with “accounting needs served by legacy accounting systems that were designed in the last century”. This acquisition links InvestCloud’s digital platform with Babel’s capabilities. InvestCloud will also continue […]
Top fintech stories this week – 6 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The first weekly news round-up of 2017. Happy 2017! Let it be a year of discovery and success.
S&P sells QuantHouse to original founder
S&P Global is selling trading solutions provider QuantHouse to one of its original founders, Pierre Feligioni. “The time is right for QuantHouse to regain focus and flexibility to exploit growing market opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia,” Feligioni states.
CMA voices concerns over VocaLink’s takeover by Mastercard
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Mastercard’s acquisition of VocaLink gives rise to competition concerns.
Banking and payments tech vendor D+H up for sale?
North American banking and payments tech vendor DH Corporation (D+H) has set up a committee to review its possible sale, it is understood.
Vermilion Software and Cymba Technologies acquired by FactSet
Factset, a US-based provider of financial information and analytics software to the investment management industry, has completed two acquisitions. These are Vermilion Software, a client reporting and communications software specialist and Cymba Technologies, which focuses on asset and investment management software and solutions.
Credit card firm MBNA sold to Lloyds for £1.9bn
Credit card firm MBNA is to be taken over by Lloyds. The firm’s current owner, Bank of America, has agreed to sell it for £1.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in H1 2017.
Drooms acquires Swiss fintech firm DealMarket
Drooms, a provider of virtual data rooms, has agreed a deal to acquire DealMarket with effect from 1 January 2017 to boost its service portfolio for the entire asset lifecycle. Zurich-based DealMarket has developed a cloud-based software package for private equity investors, family offices and corporate finance experts, allowing them to manage the deal flow […]
Top fintech stories this week – 16 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Fintech funding round-up: 13 December 2016
Who is investing in what? Our latest fintech funding round-up, mercifully brief as usual. Featuring ApplePie Capital and Firepay.
Fiserv acquires cash management software vendor Online Banking Solutions
Online Banking Solutions (OBS), an Atlanta-based provider of cash management software, is being taken over by banking tech giant Fiserv.
AnaCap to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking & wealth management ops, complete IT overhaul planned
AnaCap Financial Partners, a UK-based private equity firm, is set to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking business, life insurance business, wealth and investment management and brokerage operations.
Sofgen assists Bank of Singapore with integration of Barclays’ wealth business
Bank of Singapore has completed the acquisition of the wealth and investment management business of Barclays in Hong Kong and Singapore. The combined entity has more than $75 billion of assets under management (AUM) and nearly 400 specialist bankers.
Cognizant to acquire digital agency Mirabeau
Amsterdam-based digital marketing and customer experience agency Mirabeau and its 260 staff will join Cognizant’s digital business once the acquisition is completed.
Avaloq in talks with private equity firms?
Avaloq is rumoured to be talking to private equity (PE) firms. Suitors reportedly include New York-based KKR.
Fintech funding round-up: 24 November 2016
Let’s put the fun in funding by keeping it mercifully brief. Money seekers are PayKey, Euklid and Flender.
Klarna gets sweet on Cookies payments start-up
German start-up Cookies crumbled, but Swedish payments provider Klarna has rumbled into action to take on its tech assets and employees. As Banking Technology reported this month, Cookies ended its short life as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app and applied for insolvency. At that time, Cookies co-founder Lamine Cheloufi said the other co-founder, Garry Krugljakow, […]
IBM closes Promontory acquisition
IBM has completed the acquisition of Promontory Financial Group, a risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm. As Banking Technology reported in September, IBM planned the purchase to boost IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. IBM adds that the acquisition complements its industry platforms business. These platforms will integrate IBM Cloud, Watson and capabilities from across “digital […]
LSE to acquire financial data provider Mergent
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of business and financial data provider Mergent. The Mergent business will form part of LSE’s information services division, which includes FTSE Russell, a provider of indexes, and real-time and reference data products. Mark Makepeace, group director of information services and CEO of […]
DBS to acquire ANZ retail and wealth business in Asia
Singapore-based DBS Bank is buying the retail and wealth business of Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia for about SGD 110 million ($79 million) “above book value”. The exact figure has not been disclosed, but the portfolio represents total deposits of SGD 17 billion ($12.2 billion), […]
SS&C to acquire CRM software provider Salentica
SS&C Technologies will acquire customer relationship management (CRM) software provider Salentica. Canada-based Salentica will become a platform partner to the firm’s Black Diamond wealth platform and so provide more support to SS&C – such as its Global Wealth Platform. The latter recently went live at Seattle-based Smead Capital Management. Dave Welling, managing director and co-general […]
TD Ameritrade to buy Scottrade for $4bn
Nebraska-based online broker TD Ameritrade is to acquire US discount brokerage firm Scottrade in a cash and stock transaction valued at $4 billion, resulting in its branch network more than quadrupling in size. For TD Ameritrade, it says it will get a network of nearly 500 branches employing more than 1,000 investment consultants. It will […]
Wipro to buy cloud firm Appirio
IT services integrator Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Appirio, a cloud services company, for $500 million. With the acquisition, Wipro will get Topcoder, a crowdsourcing marketplace for designers, developers and data scientists; and expand its cloud offerings. Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO and member of the board at Wipro, says it will “consolidate” […]
Fintech funding round-up: 19 October 2016
Want to save some time but be in the know of the latest funding initiatives in the fintech space? Then read on.
Accenture acquires Allen International for digital banking push
Accenture has acquired London-based design consultancy Allen International as it looks to boost its digital banking ambitions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Accenture says Allen International has worked with more than 350 banks around the world including nine of the top 20 banks. Customers include Emirates NBD, Bank of Ireland, CIBC, Banorte, […]
MasterCard to buy French payment firm Stet?
MasterCard is believed to be mulling the acquisition of French payments processor Stet. MasterCard told Banking Technology it “does not comment on rumours or speculation”. Stet responded saying that “these are unfounded rumours” and that it “has no discussions of this type with MasterCard.” Stet was set up in 2004 and is currently owned by […]
LzLabs to buy Eranea’s IP and tech assets
Swiss software start-up LzLabs will acquire the intellectual property (IP) and technology assets from compatriot Eranea. The tech, that specifically enables the conversion of Cobol to Java, has been acquired as LzLabs looks to boost the growth of its software-defined mainframe. Banking Technology reported on the mainframe’s launch in March and LzLabs’ partnership with Cobol-IT. […]
Capital One buys online price tracker Paribus
Capital One continues its fintech acquisition spree with the purchase of price tracking service Paribus. Emilia Lopez, managing vice-president, US Card at Capital One, says its “focus right now is on merging Paribus into the broader Capital One family”. Paribus will also be added into its broader set of technology and tools, such as CreditWise […]
IBM Watson learns compliance in Promontory purchase
IBM plans to acquire Promontory Financial Group, a risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm, to boost IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. Upon close of the deal, Promontory’s employees will train Watson, which will learn by “continuously ingesting regulatory information as it is created and through interaction in real-world applications”. Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice-president, IBM […]
Nordic payments firm Nets to IPO
Nordic payments firm Nets has successfully IPO-ed on Nasdaq Copenhagen Exchange the tune of DKK 30 billion ($4.5 billion).
M&A round-up: 15 September 2016
Welcome to the world of mergers and acquisitions – and our mission to provide a quick round-up. Ant Financial, Alibaba’s payments arm, has bought Missouri-based EyeVerify, a biometric security technology company. The big deal here is that its tech is used by Wells Fargo – and regional banks and credit unions in the US. Also, […]
PayU acquires India’s Citrus Pay for $130m
PayU has bought Citrus Pay for $130 million – the “largest ever M&A cash deal” in India’s fintech space. The deal is part of PayU’s growth plans and it claims its number of customers in India will grow to more than 30 million, processing a forecasted 150 million transactions in 2016 worth a combined $4.2 […]
PriceMetrix acquired by McKinsey
McKinsey has bought PriceMetrix, a Toronto-based data and analytics company focused on the wealth and asset management sector. McKinsey says that “PriceMetrix will retain its management team, brand and identity, and will work in close collaboration with McKinsey’s wealth and asset management team”. PriceMetrix’s tools – ValueOne, CommissionCheck and FeeCheck – are complementary to McKinsey’s […]
