Banking M&A Digest #80 (25.6.2020)
Mastercard has agreed to buy Finicity, a US open-banking group, in a USD 1 billion deal (USD 825 million as an initial payment and USD 160 million if targets are met). Finicity's best-known applications include the platforms behind Quicken Loans Rocket Mortgages and Experian Boost.
Prudential, a UK insurer, has agreed to sell a USD 500 million stake in Jackson, its US business, to Athene, a life insurer backed by Apollo ( a private equity group), in a deal that values the unit at USD 4.5 billion ahead of a potential IPO.
Source: FT, WSJ
Bridgepoint, a UK-based private equity firm, has agreed to buy EQT Partners' (a rival PE group) EUR 3.9 billion credit arm. Bridgepoint is expected to merge the unit with its own credit business to create a lender with about EUR 7 billion in assets under management.
Credit Suisse is said to have agreed a deal with modalmais, a Brazilian digital broker, to buy a stake of up to 35%. Modalmais has nearly 1 million clients and USD 1.9 billion in assets under custody.
Boa Vista, a Brazilian credit bureau, is said to be considering reviving plans to go public.
MKB Bank, a Hungarian lender, is said to be considering acquiring a stake in Slatinska Banka, a Croatian lender. Slatinska had assets worth USD 231.95 million at the end of 2018.
Piraeus Bank, a Greek lender, is said to be preparing to sell two portfolios of soured loans worth about EUR 7 billion. Piraeus may only pocket between EUR 250 and EUR 300 million from the sales "given the rich discounts demanded by investors".
Zopa, a UK peer-to-peer lender, has received a full banking license and plans to introduce its first savings accounts already this week.
Checkout.com, a UK digital payments processor, has raised USD 150 million in a funding round at a USD 5.5 billion valuation.
According to Boston Consulting Group research, personal financial assets (including deposits, equities, bonds, insurance policies and other products) are expected to fall in 2020 from USD 226 trillion at the end of 2019 to USD 215 trillion before rebounding to USD 225 trillion in 2021 and growing steadily to USD 265 trillion by the end of 2024.
"Finance is, like, done. Everybody's bought everybody else with low-cost debt. Everybody's maximised their margin. They've bought all their shares back… There's nothing there. Every industry has about three players. Elizabeth Warren is right."
Jeff Ubben, co-founder, Inclusive Capital Partners
Banking M&A Digest #81 (2.7.2020)