5 big FinTech acquisitions announced in Europe in August 2023

By Gloria Methri

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is a sector that is highly elastic in its behaviour. Successfully acquiring and integrating FinTech companies poses a significant challenge.

According to FT Partners, as many as 1,485 M&A deals occurred in the FinTech space in 2021, totalling $348.5 billion. Moreover, in the first half of 2022, $76.8 billion was invested across 3,447 deals, according to data from FinTech Global.

The month of August in the year 2023 also witnessed multiple FinTech mergers and acquisitions in Europe. Let’s look at five such announcements:

• Param and Twisto

Param, one of Turkey’s biggest FinTechs, is entering the European market with the acquisition of CEE Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider Twisto. With plans for a wider global expansion, Param is introducing its technology and integrated embedded finance products and services to Europe. The acquisition will enable it to expand its footprint, starting with Twisto’s core markets – Czech Republic and Poland – as well as Germany and the Netherlands as the next new markets.

• Deutsche Börse and FundsDLT

Global market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse Group is acquiring the remaining shares in digitised fund distribution platform FundsDLT. The Luxembourg-based company is a decentralised platform based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) for end-to-end fund distribution and processing. The acquisition by Deutsche Börse’s corporate venture capital arm DB1 Ventures will make FundsDLT an integral part of Clearstream’s fund service offering.

• Basware and Glantus

Genesis Bidco Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish software firm Basware has announced plans to acquire Irish FinTech Glantus Holdings PLC. By combining AP automation from Basware and specialist audit recovery and fraud prevention software, Glantus customers will obtain complete coverage through the entire invoice processing and capital management lifecycle. Glantus’ solution will be plugged into Basware’s offering, bringing deeper expertise, an end-to-end data-driven view, and speed to value savings for customers.

• Alpha Bank Romania and Orange Money

Alpha Bank Romania has signed a business transfer contract with Orange Money Romania, agreeing to take over its retail activities including the client portfolio, top digital assets (mobile application), credit card portfolio, and employees. The transaction will bring together the banking expertise of Alpha Bank Romania with the digital skills of Orange Money, allowing the bank to become one of the key players in digital banking in Romania.

• Allfunds and Iccrea Banca

B2B WealthTech platform Allfunds has signed an agreement to acquire Iccrea Banca’s local paying agent business, Banca Corrispondente e Banca Agente. 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 is expected to be signed before the end of Q3 2023 and closed before the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.

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