Allfunds buys Iccrea Banca’s Local Paying Agent business in Italy

By Gloria Methri

B2B WealthTech platform Allfunds has signed an agreement to acquire Iccrea Banca’s local paying agent business, Banca Corrispondente e Banca Agente.

Iccrea Banca is the parent company of Gruppo BCC Iccrea, the Italian cooperative banking group, ranked as the fourth largest bank by total assets (€173.5 billion) and third by number of branches in Italy.

With this transaction, Allfunds will build upon its position in the Banca Corrispondente or local paying agent business in Italy to better serve customers, while strengthening the partnership with an important financial institution in the country.

The transaction will be Adj. EBITDA margin and EPS are accretive from year one in consideration of the improved level of services and broader portfolio offered to clients.

It will have a neutral impact on Allfunds Banking Group’s liquidity position, as the acquisition will be fully funded through the Allfunds Group revolving credit facility.

Juan Alcaraz, Allfunds’ founder, and CEO, said, “I am very pleased that we have entered this agreement with Iccrea Banca. Being one of our core markets, in which we have been present since 2003, this transaction will contribute to our ambition to remain the top choice for any Italian institution in the WealthTech segment. Our integrated offering will certainly help Iccrea to deliver superior added value to their clients.”

Mauro Pastore, General Manager of the BCC Iccrea Group added, “This agreement is part of the BCC Iccrea Group’s strategy aimed at supporting development projects in the area of asset management, which correspondent banking is closely related to, and at improving the level of services related to access to financial markets provided to our BCCs and their customers. This transaction will allow us to capitalise on the value of these assets and to further increase our solid capital ratios.”

The transaction is expected to be signed before the end of 3Q2023 and closed before the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.