2021: Top five mergers and acquisitions
Capping off 2021, FinTech Futures takes a look back at some of the year’s most significant mergers and acquisitions.
This year has seen developments across the industry as firms attempt to grow through strategic acquisitions, diversify their offering and vie for users and consumers in a highly competitive market.
Here are five of the top mergers and acquisitions across 2021.
NatWest acquires child banking start-up RoosterMoney
In October, banking giant NatWest acquired UK fintech RoosterMoney in a bid to appeal to younger spenders and savers.
Launched in 2016, Rooster aims to promote good habits for children around earning, saving and spending money though reward charts, chore reminders and customised interest rates that can be set by parents.
Stripe acquires Indian accounting software firm Recko
Also in October, payments giant Stripe acquired Bangalore-based automated payments reconciliation software firm Recko for an undisclosed sum.
Recko allows online businesses to track their financial health
Stripe says the acquisition will allow the company to provide online businesses an accurate way to track their financial health.
Recko’s solution will be added to Stripe’s existing suite of financial tools, and the fintech’s team will join Stripe’s remote engineering hub.
“Internet businesses need new financial tools that can scale with their growth and automate the tasks required to produce an accurate picture of their financial health,” says Recko CEO and co-founder Saurya Prakash Sinha.
In May, Stripe acquired Oakland-founded card verification fintech Bouncer for an undisclosed amount, integrating it into Stripe’s fraud prevention tool, Radar.
Klarna acquires German payments fintech Stocard
In July, Swedish buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Klarna acquired German fintech Stocard.
Stocard offers a card aggregation service with an integrated mobile payment system. The firm also offers a range of discounts, and launched in the UK in 2020.
Among its investors are Alstin, Engelhorn, and High-Tech Gründerfonds. It has raised $31.1 million across five funding rounds with its last – a Series B in 2018 – netting it $20 million.
Klarna’s German move follows the acquisition of UK-based “social shopping” app Hero earlier in July.
BNPL firm Zip extends acquisition spree, buys up Twisto and Spotii
In May, Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Zip continued its acquisitive streak by snapping up the remaining shares in Twisto Payments and UAE-based Spotii Holdings.
Zip has spent big on several acquisitions to boost its global footprint
Zip says both transactions align with its global expansion plans and what it calls the “rapidly accelerating” global BNPL market.
The firm seeks to build a “single global BNPL solution across multiple markets” and did not waste time in finding targets.
It first moved in September 2019 to acquire New Zealand technology platform PartPay in a $32 million deal.
A year later it bought up US BNPL firm QuadPay for $296 million, and followed that up with an investment in Czech-based Twisto.
Zip’s global CEO, Larry Diamond, said at the time Twisto had impressed with its “customer centricity, product depth, and team.”
The full acquisition, worth $89 million, gives Zip access to 27 European Union countries through Twisto’s payment institution licence.
Rapyd acquires Valitor in $100m deal
In July, payments fintech Rapyd agreed a deal with Icelandic firm Arion Bank to acquire payments solutions company Valitor in a deal worth $100 million.
Founded in 1983, Valitor provides both in-store and online payments acceptance solutions as well as card issuing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe.
UK-based Rapyd says the acquisition will “complement [its] existing payment capabilities throughout Europe” and “enhance its issuing portfolio”.
The company describes itself as a “Fintech-as-a-Service (FaaS)” platform and offers cloud-based technology to integrate payments and fintech services into web and mobile applications.
