Exits & Deep Reads

Japanese banks to the rescue (TWIF 12/8)

Skiing Holiday, Slim Aarons, 1977

Hello Fintech Friends,

The Fintech Formal and 2024 TWIF Awards are less than one week away.

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Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know! Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)

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📖 Reads of the Week

☯️ Exits

💻 IPOs & SPACs

eToro selected Goldman Sachs to lead its U.S. IPO efforts as part of its plan to expand its trading platform operations in the region. The IPO could come as soon as the 2nd quarter. eToro previously attempted to go public via SPAC. It is expected to shoot for a valuation over its last one of $3.5 billion.

Hot off the presses: cards are still king 💳👑

Read more in this new report from the Fed (link in comments). pic.twitter.com/VRindFN67t
— Unit (@unit_co_) December 3, 2024

5/ A research survey of 2500 crypto users in emerging markets indicates that stablecoins are being used for several non-crypto use case. Data: @nic__carter @CastleIslandVC @Visa pic.twitter.com/omvmggdlWG
— Noah Levine (@nlevine19) November 30, 2024

🤝 M&A - Fintech

Japanese financial conglomerate MUFG acquired WealthNavi, a roboadvisor, for $664 million, enhancing its digital wealth management capabilities.
British software investor Hg Capital is selling its provider of accounting software Dext to Iris Software for a hefty £500 million.
Japanese bank SBI Holdings may be the knight in shining armor for embattled German BaaS platform Solaris by acquiring additional equity stakes. Solaris is seeking €100 million to stay alive; SBI last led a €96 million funding round in March.
Capitolis, an Israeli core banking provider, acquired Capitalab, a compression and on business from BGC Group, for $46 million to accelerate its growth in the capital markets ecosystem.
Mexican neobanking fintech Klar acquired the assets of corporate card provider Tribal to offer expanded financial services to SMBs in Mexico, solidifying their shared commitment to the region’s underserved markets .
Mambu acquired Numeral to bolster its core banking and payment solutions, integrating advanced technologies into its portfolio .
PGIM, the fixed incom unit of Prudential, purchased $500 million of consumer loans from buy-now-pay-later provider Affirm.
Deel expanded its European cross-boder payments infrastructure by acquiring UK-based Atlantic Money, aligning with its global growth strategy.
IXOPAY, a payments technology provider, merged with Aperia Compliance, a PCI DSS data validation and risk management provider.
UK-based payments company Sokin acquired Norwegian fintech Settle Group to improve its tech offering for Sokin Pay.
LeaseCrunch merged with Finagraph to strengthen its financial intelligence for CPA firms .
Bain Capital completed the acquisition of Envestnet, a wealth solutions provider, valuing the business at around $4.5 billion.

Bilt announced a bit more about how they make money, and the picture is much clearer than it was before.

The Wells co-brand card is part of the business but Bilt wants it to be a smaller part of the business going forward (the terms with Wells will have to change, Bilt has to… pic.twitter.com/6OlkD0kJHX
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) December 3, 2024

New Apple Tap to Cash is another step towards turning your phone into a wallet pic.twitter.com/ryu7RTnWwF
— Dimitri Dadiomov (@dadiomov) December 1, 2024

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ

BlackRock struck a $12 billion deal to acquire private credit fund manager HPS, doubling its investments in private markets.
A consortium made an offer to acquire Hong Kong’s ESR Group, which has about $154 billion in assets under management, valuing it at over $7 billion.
AssetMark completed the acquisition of key business assets from Morningstar Wealth, forging a stliance to enhance its wealth management services .
ESR Group, based in Hong Kong, received a $7 billion private buyout offer, setting the stage for a significant pri deal .
UHY, an accounting, tax, consulting and advisory services firm, received a growth investment from Summit Partners.