Exits & Deep Reads

Stripe's record-setting crypto acquisition (TWIF 10/27)

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

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📖 Reads of the Week

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

Stripe Acquires Bridge: Stripe acquired the stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking a significant move in the cryptocurrency space as one of the largest tech acquisitions in this sector.
- It was also revealed that, in 2021, Stripe paid $850 million to $900 million to acquire tax compliance provider TaxJar.
Socure Adds Real-Time Decisioning: Digital identity verification, fraud prevention and sanction screening platform Socure agreed to acquire Effectiv, a real-time risk decisioning company, for $136 million.
Thomson Reuters Acquires Materia: Thomson Reuters acquired Materia, a specialist in agentic AI, to enhance its offerings in the tax audit and accounting sectors.
Kaspikz Acquires Majority Share of Hepsiburada: Kaspikz acquired a majority stake in the Turkish e-commerce platform Hepsiburada for $1.1 billion, aiming to strengthen its position in the region.
Tide Acquires OnFolk: Tide acquired payroll provider OnFolk to enhance its financial services for small businesses and expand its payroll management offerings.
CoStar Group Acquires Visual Lease: CoStar Group announced its acquisition of Visual Lease, a leading lease administration provider, to bolster its real estate information services.
R3 Explores Sale: R3, an Intel-backed blockchain startup for financial services, is exploring various options, including a potential sale, as it evaluates its future direction in the market.

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ

Capital One / Discover Under Review: New York AG Letitia James is investigating whether Capital One's proposed $35 billion takeover of Discover violates the state's antitrust law.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Acquires Standard Chartered's India Loan Book: Kotak Mahindra Bank is set to buy Standard Chartered's personal loan portfolio in India for approximately $1.3 billion.
DNB Bank Acquires Carnegie: DNB Bank agreed to acquire the Swedish banking group Carnegie for $1.1 billion to strengthen its investment banking and asset management services.
UBS Sells Stake in Swisscard: UBS sold its 50% stake in Swisscard to a private equity firm as part of its strategy to focus on core banking operations.
Saxo Bank Attracts Interest from Altor-led Group: Saxo Bank is reportedly attracting interest from an Altor-led consortium that includes Interactive Brokers, signaling potential changes in its operations.
Monroe Capital Sells Majority Stake to Wendel: Private credit manager Monroe Capital sold a majority stake to investment firm Wendel to support its growth strategy.
Nomura-backed Komainu Makes First Acquisition: Komainu, a crypto custodian backed by Nomura, completed its first acquisition to enhance its position in the cryptocurrency market.
Wendel Buys Majority Share of Monroe: French investment firm Wendel acquired a 75% stake in Monroe Capital, a Chicago-based asset management firm specializing in private credit markets, for $1.1 billion.

Really good writeup on the Stripe / Bridge deal -- the biggest M&A deal in crypto history.

AI takes ~100 tweets like these, and writes a three paragraph story like that.

This is with OpenAI's "o1" model -- best LLM for writing (for now).https://t.co/cOt2ER3gWI pic.twitter.com/HBVDSJIzHZ
— Nikolai Yakovenko (@ivan_bezdomny) October 21, 2024

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Sponsored Content

Escape the Money20/20 madness—find april at Cabana 10, poolside at the Venetian. Kick back, relax, chat about embedded tax. Chill drinks, even chiller people, all day Monday and Tuesday. Join us.